Tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase is a membrane-bound glycoprotein enzyme which is characterized by its phosphohydrolytic, protein phosphatase, and phosphotransferase activities. This enzyme is distributed virtually in all mammalian tissues, particularly during embryonic development. Its expression is stage-specific and can be demonstrated in the developing embryo as early as the 2-cell stage. It has been suggested that tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase might play a role in tissue formation. In the study reported here, a gene-transfer approach was employed to investigate possible roles for this enzyme by inserting the cDNA for rat tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase into CHO and LLC-PK1 cells. Permanently transfected cell-lines expressing varying levels of alkaline phosphatase were established. The data showed that functional enzyme was expressed in the transfected cells. Cell spreading and attachment were enhanced in transfected CHO cells expressing high levels of tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase but not in the LLC-PK1 cells. Further, in CHO cells, proliferation was shown to be inversely proportional to the level of the tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase expression. Homotypic cell association was demonstrated in both alkaline phosphatase-positive and alkaline phosphatase-negative cells in both CHO and LLC-PK1 cell-lines. Taken together, these findings suggest that in addition to a role in mineralization of bone, tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase might also play a role in other cell activities, including those related to differentiation, such as cell-cell or cell-substrate interaction and proliferation.