Acid, neutral, and alkaline phosphatases in developing rat oral mucosa.

Developing rat oral mucosa contains high activities of acid (AcidPase), neutral (adenosine monophosphatase AMPase), and alkaline (AlkPase) phosphatases. This study is concerned with a detailed analysis of the distribution of these enzymes in freeze-dried sections of oral mucosa. The sections were incubated for AcidPase. AMPase, and AlkPase in the presence of certain inhibiting agents. Four AcidPases, three AMPases, and two AlkPases were identified in the oral mucosa. Six of them were found in the epithelium and three in the connective tissue. Three of the epithelial phosphatases were unique in the sense that they were found only in junction mucosa epithelium. The function of these enzymes may be related to the maintenance of the epithelial cell attachment in an area subjected to stretching, possibly by affecting the periphery of the cells.