Cloning and sequence of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP-4) from a human placental cDNA library

A cDNA clone encoding bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) has been isolated from a human placental cDNA library. Sequence analysis of this clone revealed that the nucleotide sequence of 5’ region was different from that of human osteosarcoma BMP-4 and the deduced amino acid sequence indicated deletion of N-terminal 6 amino acids. We confirmed the expression of this type of BMP-4 mRNA in one human osteogenic cell line in addition to the placenta by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).