solely geared to supply a source of inorganic phosphate when the environment lacks this metabolite. The inorganic phosphates are then bound to carrier proteins which deliver the inorganic phosphates to a specific high-affinity transport system, known as the phosphate-specific transport system (Pst system), which transports phosphate across the cytoplasmic membrane. While the outer membrane of E. coli contains porins that are permeable to phosphorylated compounds, the inner membrane does not. An issue arises in how to transport such compounds across the inner membrane and into the cytosol. The strong anionic charge of phosphate groups along with the remainder of the compound make phosphorylated compounds very much immiscible in the nonpolar region of the bilayer. The solution arises in cleaving the phosphate group away from the compound via ALP. The dephosphorylation reaction that ALP catalyzes yields pure inorganic phosphate, which can be ultimately targeted by the Pst system for translocation into the cytosol, with concomitant production of a dephosphorylated compound. As such, the main purpose of dephosphorylation by alkaline phosphatase is to increase the rate of diffusion of phosphorylated molecules into the cells while inhibiting them from diffusing out. Alkaline phosphatase is a zinc-containing dimeric enzyme with the MW: 86,000 Da, each subunit containing 429 amino acids with four cysteine residues linking the two subunits. Alkaline phosphatase contains four Zn ions and two Mg ions, with Zn occupying active sites A and B, and Mg occupying site C, so the fully active native alkaline phosphatase is referred to as (ZnAZnBMgC)2 enzyme. The mechanism of action of alkaline phosphatase involves the geometric coordination of the substrate between the Zn ions in the active sites, whereas the Mg site doesn't appear to be close enough to directly partake in the hydrolysis mechanism, however, it may contribute to the shape of the electrostatic potential around the active center. Alkaline phosphatase in E. coli is uncommonly soluble and active within elevated temperature conditions such as 80 °C. Due to the kinetic energy induced by this temperature the weak hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions of common proteins become degraded and therefore coalesce and precipitate. However, upon dimerization of alkaline phosphatase the bonds maintaining its secondary and tertiary structures are effectively buried such that they are not affected as much at this temperature. Furthermore, even at more elevated temperatures such as 90 °C alkaline phosphatase has the unusual characteristic of reverse denaturation. Due to this, although it