OSTEOINDUCTIVE PROTEINS

Cartilage and bone tissues are rich in different polypeptide factors (growth factors) which participate in the regulation of skeletal development and growth. Parallels between the embryonal endochondral ossification, callus formation during fracture repair, and ectopic bone induction in postnatal life have encouraged scientists to search for common mechanisms underlying these processes. A set of polypeptide factors belonging to the TGF-beta superfamily called the bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), have been found to be of fundamental importance both in bone formation and mesenchymal-epithelial interactions in early embryogenesis. Thus, this group of proteins is a common denominator in all the above-mentioned processes involving osteoinduction and there is great potential for their clinical application as bone-inducing factors.