Differential expression of Xenopus BMPs in early embryos and tissues.

Expression levels of mRNA for Xenopus bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) in early embryos and adult organs were examined. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) that used specific primers for each BMP subtype revealed that mRNAs for BMP-2 and BMP-4 are distributed in a wide variety of adult tissues including lung, heart, and kidney. Unexpectedly, distribution of mRNA for BMP-7 was found to be limited to ovary and early embryos. The result suggests that Xenopus BMP-7 may have a specific role in ovary and early embryos.