Smooth Muscle Expresses Bone Morphogenetic Protein (Vgr-1/BMP-6) in Human Fetal Intestine

Abstract

During human fetal development, autocrine TGF-β₁ regulates the synthesis of specific collagen types by intestinal smooth muscle cells in an age-dependent manner. Vgr-1/BMP6, a member of the TGF-β superfamily, modulates epithelial, endochondral and neural tissue development in mice: a related peptide is essential to gut morphogenesis in Drosophila. This is the first study to detect vgr-1/BMP-6 during human intestinal organogenesis. Polyclonal antibodies to the precursor and mature fragments of vgr-1 were used in immunohistochemical studies of human intestine at 15, 19 and 24 weeks’ gestation. Immunoreactivity was detected with the antibody directed against the precursor portion of vgr-1. Only smooth muscle structures stained for vgr-1 including muscularis propria, muscularis mucosa and vasculature. BMP-6 mRNA was detected by RNase protection assay in cultured muscle cells from 11, 17 and 22 weeks’ gestation. This study demonstrates vgr-1/BMP 6 expression in the developing human fetal intestine, exclusively in muscle.

BMP signaling in rats with TNBS-induced colitis following BMP7 therapy

“…BMP6 shares some identical features with BMP7, like the affinity to BMP receptors and mechanisms for osteoblastic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (41,48,66). BMP6 is present in the gastrointestinal smooth muscle and in the pancreas during development and its misexpression leads to agenesis of the pancreas and reduced stomach size (19,56). The liver is probably the source of endogenous BMP6, which regulates the expression of hepcidin and iron absorption in the gut regulating its concentration in the serum (3,66).…”

Bone Morphogenetic Proteins and Signaling Pathway in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

“…Initial investigation of the BMP expression in the GI tract showed limited expression of individual BMP and its receptors during development. BMP6 and BMP7 were found in the developing human and mouse intestine limiting its expression to the smooth muscle cells and intestinal epithelium, respectively (Helder et al, 1995;Perr et al, 1999). Expression of BMP type I receptor (ALK6) was found in the stomach and its pyloric region (Dewulf et al,1995).…”

Peutz–Jeghers LKB1 mutants fail to activate GSK-3β, preventing it from inhibiting Wnt signaling

“…Genes up-regulated by LKB1-WT (such as IGFBP3 and TAGLN) were tested in a and genes down-regulated by LKB1-WT (such as FOXF1, BMP6 and RUNX3) were tested in b, c Lysates from parental HeLa cells (-) or cells tranduced with HA-LKB1-WT, HA-LKB1-K78I or HA-LKB1-SL26 were prepared 5 days postinfection and fractionated by SDS-PAGE, and selected endogenous proteins were detected by immunoblotting with the following antibodies: anti-fibronectin, anti-IGFBP3, anti-transgelin antibodies. Anti-actin antibodies were used to check that equal amounts of total protein (50 lg) had been loaded c such FOXF1 (which encodes a transcription factor important for cell migration; Kalinichenko et al 2002), BMP6 (which codes for a signaling molecule important during development for cell communication; Perr et al 1999) and RUNX3 (a tumor suppressor gene for gastric cancer; Li et al 2002) (Fig. 5b).…”