Epithelial tissues provide tissue barriers and specialize in organs and glands. When epithelial homeostasis is physiologically or pathologically stimulated, epithelial cells produce mesenchymal cells through the epithelial‐mesenchymal transition, forming new tissues, promoting the cure of diseases or leading to illness. A variety of cytokines are involved in the regulation of epithelial cell differentiation. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), especially the bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) has a variety of biological functions and plays a prominent role in the regulation of epithelial cell differentiation. BMP4 is an important regulatory factor of a series of life activities in vertebrates, which is also related to cell proliferation, differentiation and mobility, it also has relation with tumor development. This paper mainly reviews the mechanism of BMP4’s regulation on epithelial tissues, as well as its effect on the growth, differentiation, benign lesions and malignant lesions of epithelial tissues, and expounds the function of BMP4 in epithelial tissues, to provide theoretical support for the research on reducing epithelial diseases.

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Corneal neovascularization (CNV) can lead to impaired corneal transparency, resulting in vision loss or blindness. The primary pathological mechanism underlying CNV is an imbalance between pro-angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors, with inflammation playing a crucial role. Notably, a vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF）-A gradient triggers the selection of single endothelial cells（ECs） into primary tip cells that guide sprouting, while a dynamic balance between tip and stalk cells maintains a specific ratio to promote CNV. Despite the central importance of tip-stalk cell selection and shuffling, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we examined the effects of BMP4 on VEGF-A-induced lumen formation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and CD34-stained tip cell formation. In vivo, BMP4 inhibited CNV caused by corneal sutures. This process was achieved by BMP4 decreasing the protein expression of VEGF-A and VEGFR2 in corneal tissue after corneal suture injury. By observing the ultrastructure of the cornea, BMP4 inhibited the sprouting of tip cells and brought forward the appearance of intussusception. Meanwhile, BMP4 attenuated the inflammatory response by inhibiting neutrophil extracellular traps （NETs）formation through the NADPH oxidase-2（NOX-2）pathway. Our results indicate that BMP4 inhibits the formation of tip cells by reducing the generation of NETs, disrupting the dynamic balance of tip and stalk cells and thereby inhibiting CNV, suggesting that BMP4 may be a potential therapeutic target for CNV.

Introduction: Global competence is an essential quality for compound talents. Clinical medicine is an interdisciplinary subject that requires an international perspective. Therefore, it is crucial for developing countries to break the domestic cramming education model and develop medical course that can fully cultivate students' cutting-edge and independent thinking ability. Methods: We undertook a "Medical Core Literacy Online Training Class", and cooperated with internationally renowned universities to train students' core medical literacy and cutting-edge thinking through this course. We chose 80 outstanding senior undergraduate and graduate students to participate in our course. The effectiveness was evaluated by comparing the results of stage tests and questionnaires of these medical students with those who did not participate in our course.Results: The overwhelming majority of students demonstrate that the course cycle arrangement is reasonable, and the course harvest meets or even exceeds their expectations. Our course has generally improved the comprehensive quality of students, especially the improvement of research methods, listening and speaking skills, and pioneering thinking abilities. 79 out of the 80 students have developed initiative to leran new knowledge.Conclusions: "Medical Core Literacy Online Training Class" is beneficial to develop the global competence of medical students and this teaching method is helpful for developing countries to cultivate high-quality medical talents with critical thinking ability.