Alkaline phosphatase (AP) is a nonspecific phosphomonoester hydrolase that catalyzes the hydrolysis of a wide variety of organic monophosphates. The widespread occurrence of AP in nature suggests its involvement in fundamental biochemical processes, however, there is no positive evidence regarding its physiological function, or the nature of the natural substrates. Hydrolysis of phosphoesters, phosphate transferase activity, protein phosphatase activity, phosphate transport, modulation of organic cation transport, and involvement in cell proliferation have been suggested as possible functions of ALP. Thus Alkaline phosphatase may potentially also hydrolyze phosphate groups of proteins. Roche has no specific data and procedures concerning the dephosphorylation of proteins.
Two publications are available which describe the dephosphorylation of proteins using Calf Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase (CIAP) from Roche Applied Science:
Please note that not all phosphorylation sites might be accessible for dephosphorlyation by AP (due to steric hindrances), and that other phosphatases (e.g., specific phosphoprotein phosphatases or acidic phosphatases) have to be used.
Alkaline Phosphatase can generally be inactivated by heat: Heat the reaction for 10 min at +65 °C followed by at least one extraction with phenol/chloroform/isoamylalcohol (50 : 48 : 2). The inactivation of AP by heat depends upon the protein concentration and the divalent ion concentration (Mg2+, Zn2+) of the preparation. For inactivation of AP, molecular biology-grade following a dephosphorylation reaction, heat the reaction 30 min at +65 °C in the presence of 50 mM EGTA (NOT EDTA; EGTA is needed to chelate divalent cations), then extract with phenol and precipitate the nucleic acid with ethanol. The amount of EGTA needed depends upon the Mg2+ concentration of the reaction mix: If the reaction mix contains no Mg2+ use 5 mM EGTA (final conc.); if the reaction mix contains 1 mM Mg2+ use 10 mM EGTA. Phenol extraction should always be included in the inactivation procedure if the AP concentration is higher than 0.3 U/10 μL, to insure that AP does not interfere with further steps. However, if time or amount of nucleic acid preclude ethanol precipitation, a longer incubation (up to 45 min) at +65 °C in the presence of EGTA will usually be sufficient to completely inactivate AP. During the heat step, centrifuge the reaction mix briefly (few sec) every 10 min to collect liquid which has been condensed on the tube walls.
For best results, use 0.5 U/50 pmoles for 5′-protruding ends [30 min, +37 °C]; - 2.0 U/pmole for blunt of 5′-recessed ends [1 hour, +50 °C]; - 0.5 U/50 pmoles for RNA with 5′-phosphates [1 hour, +50 °C].
When a given nucleic acid is not dephosphorylated under the recommended reaction conditions, use a higher Mg2+ concentrations and spermidine. For 5 pmol of 5′-phosphate termini, dissolve the nucleic acid in 10 μL of 50 mM Tris-HCl/pH 8.0, containing 10 mM MgCl2, 0.5 mM spermidine, 0,01 mM EDTA and 0.1 mM ZnSO4 at room temperature. Do not place on ice, since the spermidine-DNA complexes precipitate if cooled. Add 0.5 U AP (in 1 μL) and incubate the reaction mix at +37 °C for 30 min. Add a second aliquot of AP (0.5 U) and incubate further 30 min. To inactivate AP, heat the samples 20 min at +68 °C, add 1 μL 0.25 M EGTA (pH 7.8) and incubate a further 20 min at +68 °C. [Throughout the two heating steps, centrifuge the sample tubes a few second after every 10 min at +68 °C, to remove condensation from the tube walls and prevent precipitation of spermidine-DNA complexes.]
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