Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (human), (recombinant)

BMP4 is a member of the bone morphogenetic protein family which is part of the TGF-β superfamily. The superfamily includes large families of growth and differentiation factors. Bone morphogenetic proteins were originally identified by an ability of demineralized bone extract to induce endochondral osteogenesis in vivo in an extraskeletal site. BMP4 plays an important role in the onset of endochondral bone formation in humans, and a reduction in expression has been associated with a variety of bone diseases, including the heritable disorder Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva.