From skeletal to non skeletal: The intriguing roles of BMP-9: A literature review

In the well-known superfamily of transforming growth factors beta (TGF-), bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are one of the most compelling cytokines for their major role in regulation of cell growth and differentiation in both embryonic and adult tissues. This subfamily was first described for its ability of potentiating bone formation, but nowadays, the power of BMPs is well beyond the bone healing scope. Some of the BMPs have been well studied and described in the literature, but the BMP9 is still worthy of attention. It has been shown by many authors that it is the most potent osteogenic BMP. Moreover, it has been described as one of the rare circulating BMPs. In this paper, we will review the recent literature on BMP9 and the different avenues for future research in that field. Our primary scope is to review its relation to bone formation and to elaborate on the available literature on other systems.