Description
Introduction: Bone morphogenetic protein 7 or BMP7 (also known as osteogenic protein-1 or OP-1) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the BMP7 gene. The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the TGF-beta superfamily. Like other members of the bone morphogenetic protein family of proteins, it plays a key role in the transformation of mesenchymal cells into bone and cartilage. It is inhibited by noggin and a similar protein, chordin, which are expressed in the Spemann-Mangold Organizer. BMP7 may be involved in bone homeostasis. It is expressed in the brain, kidneys and bladder.[2] BMP7 induces the phosphorylation of SMAD1 and SMAD5, which in turn induce transcription of numerous osteogenic genes.[3] It has been demonstrated that BMP7 treatment is sufficient to induce all of the genetic markers of osteoblast differentiation in many cell types.[2] BMP7 has been discovered to be crucial in the determination of ventral-dorsal organization in zebrafish. BMP7 causes the expression of ventral phenotypes while its complete inhibition creates a dorsal phenotype. Moreover, BMP7 is eventually partially "turned off" in embryonic development in order to create the dorsal parts of the organism.[4] In many early developmental experiments using zebrafish, scientists used caBMPR (constitutively active) and tBMP (truncated receptor) to determine the effect of BMP7 in embryogensis. They found that the constitutively active, which causes BMP to be expressed everywhere creates a ventralized phenotype, whereas truncated, dorsalized.FOR
Principle of the Assay: The microtiter plate provided in this kit has been pre-coated with an antibody specific to BMP-7. Standards or samples are then added to the appropriate microtiter plate wells with a biotin-conjugated antibody preparation specific for BMP-7 and Avidin conjugated to Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP) is added to each microplate well and incubated. Then a TMB (3,3'5, 5' tetramethyl-benzidine) substrate solution is added to each well. Only those wells that contain BMP-7, biotin-conjugated antibody and enzyme-conjugated Avidin will exhibit a change in color. The enzyme-substrate reaction is terminated by the addition of a sulphuric acid solution and the color change is measured spectrophotometrically at a wavelength of 450 nm +/- 2 nm. The concentration of BMP-7 in the samples is then determined by comparing the O.D. of the samples to the standard curve