Human BMP-2/BMP-4 Biotinylated Antibody

Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) is a member of the BMP subgroup of the TGF-beta superfamily. It plays a dominant role in embryonic dorsal-ventral patterning, organogenesis, limb bud formation, and bone formation and regeneration (1, 2). Human BMP-2 is synthesized as a 396 amino acid (aa) preproprotein that contains a 23 aa signal sequence, a 259 aa prosegment, and a 114 aa mature region (3). Proteolytic removal of the propeptide enables mature BMP-2 to form active disulfide linked homodimers and heterodimers with BMP-7 (2). Mature monomeric BMP-2 is an 18 kDa glycosylated peptide with seven conserved cysteines that form a cystine knot structure (4). Mature human BMP-2 shares 100% aa sequence identity with mouse and rat BMP-2. It shares 85% aa sequence identity with human BMP-4 and less than 51% with other BMPs. BMP-2 signals through heterodimeric complexes composed of a type I receptor (Activin RI, BMPR-IA, or BMPR-IB) and a type II receptor (BMP RII or Activin RIIB) (2, 5). BMP-2 induces chondrocyte proliferation, endochondral bone formation, longitudinal bone growth, and bone and cartilage repair (6, 7). It induces ectopic bone formation or calcification by promoting osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation in mesenchymal cells, stem cells, and vascular smooth muscle cells (2, 8‑10). BMP-2/BMP-7 heterodimers are significantly more potent than BMP-2 homodimers at inducing bone formation in vivo (11). BMP-2 also promotes the maintenance and repair of colonic epithelium, suppresses neuronal dopamine synthesis and release, induces apoptosis in medulloblastoma cells, and is required for cardiac contractility (12‑15).