Comparison of the inhibition of avian and mammalian bone alkaline phosphatases by levamisole and compound R8231.

Alkaline phosphatases from mammalian bone are inhibited much more than chick bone alkaline phsophatase by levamisole and compound R8231. Doses of R8231 (10(-4) to 10(-5) M) that almost completely inhibit mammalian alkaline phosphatases do not inhibit the growth of embryonic rat femurs in vitro. R8231 should be an excellent biological probe for the function of alkaline phosphatase in bone metabolism.