OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of different phenotypes for congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) in a Brazilian sample, and to evaluate the association between the CAKUT phenotypes and the BMP4 gene. METHODS In this study, 457 Brazilian individuals were analyzed in an attempt to establish the association between the BMP4 gene and the CAKUT diagnosis. A case-contro...

Vertebrate Bmp2 and Bmp4 diverged from a common ancestral gene and encode closely related proteins. Mice homozygous for null mutations in either gene show early embryonic lethality, thereby precluding analysis of shared functions. In the current studies, we present phenotypic analysis of compound mutant mice heterozygous for a null allele of Bmp2 in combination with null or hypomorphic alleles ...

Background Specific growth factors and feeder layers seem to have important roles in in vitro embryonic stem cells (ESCs) differentiation. In this study,the effects of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) co-culture system on germ cell differentiation from mouse ESCs were studied. MaterialsAndMethods Cell suspension was prepared from one-day-old embryoid bo...

Although acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a life-threatening disease, rapid diagnosis may reduce mortality risk. Despite being highly specific for AMI, cardiac troponin I (cTnI) does not distinguish between the etiologically diverse of injury that be due to MI or non-MI causes. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), which are important modulators morphogenesis, members transforming growth fact...

Evidence suggests that the specification of primordial germ cells (PGCs) in the mammalian embryo does not depend on maternal determinants. Rather, previous genetic analysis in the mouse has shown that bone morphogenetic protein 4 (Bmp4) is required for the formation of both PGCs and allantois. Bmp4 is expressed in both the trophoblast-derived extraembryonic ectoderm (ExE) and in the epiblast-de...

The genes responsible for the formation of various sensory organs in the inner ear are not known. There are eight sensory organs in the chick inner ear, and our previous study showed that all presumptive sensory organs initially express bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4), a member of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta gene family. To address the potential role of BMPs in the patterning ...

Differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) into mature oligodendrocytes is regulated by the interplay between extrinsic signals and intrinsic epigenetic determinants. In this study, we analyze the effect that the extracellular ligands sonic hedgehog (Shh) and bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4), have on histone acetylation and gene expression in cultured OPCs. Shh treatment favo...

A common feature of early vertebrate embryos is that they are surrounded by a simple protective epithelial cell layer. However, it is currently not well understood how the differentiation of this epithelium is controlled. We present data showing that BMP4 is sufficient to promote differentiation of this epithelium in diverse vertebrates. In mouse embryos the outer epithelium forms the trophecto...

We investigated the interaction between angiogenic and osteogenic factors in bone formation and bone healing with ex vivo gene therapy using muscle-derived stem cells genetically engineered to express human bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP4), VEGF, or VEGF-specific antagonist (soluble Flt1). Our results show that although VEGF alone did not improve bone regeneration, it acted synergistically w...

Bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP4), a member of the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) family of growth factors, is activated and increased under hypoxic conditions, which plays an important role in the progression of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Previous studies have shown that BMP4 is involved in the regulation of proliferation, differentiation, migration and apoptosis of various...