Description
Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (BMP-2) is a member of the TGF-beta superfamily of cytokines that effect bone and cartilage formation. Human BMP-2 is a disulphide linked homodimeric protein with an apparent molecular weight of 26 kDa. BMP-2 regulates similarly to its nearest homologue BMP-4, diverse fundamental processes during embryonic development, including induction of bone and cartilage growth and regeneration, cardiac cell differentiation and epithelial to mesenchymal transition. BMP-2 promotes osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation from mesenchymal cells, stem cells, and vascular smooth muscle cells. BMP-2 and other BMP proteins have great potential for medical therapeutic applications, in particular because they allow or at least accelerate the ossification of extensive bone lesions