Correlation of alkaline phosphatase activity with cell population density in tissue culture cells originated from rat liver.

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of cultured Li-10 cells obtained from rat liver was found to be a function of cell population density. After the cells grew to confluence, the enzyme activity per cell increased about 100 times that at a low population density. The increase of activity was inhibited by the addition of actinomycin D or cycloheximide to the culture medium. When the cells that had gained high ALP activity after confluency were subcultured, ALP activity decreased to a low basal level after about 48 h. Under cytochemical examination using an electron microscope, the induced ALP activity was seen exclusively at the apical surface region of the cells but scarcely at cell-cell and cell-substratum contact regions.