Periodontal regeneration: potential role of bone morphogenetic proteins.

Initiation of osteogenesis and cementogenesis is a problem central to periodontal regeneration. A major advance in the understanding of bone formation has been the identification of an entirely new family of protein initiators, the bone morphogenetic proteins, that regulate cartilage and bone differentiation in vivo. The purification, genetic cloning and expression of recombinant human bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) have laid the foundation for the cellular and molecular dissection of bone development and regeneration. The striking evolutionary conservation of the BMP genes indicates that they are critical in the normal development and function of animals. In addition to postfetal osteogenesis, the BMPs may play multiple roles in embryonic development and organogenesis, including skeletogenesis and the development of craniofacial and dental tissues. The availability of recombinant human BMPs provides several challenges and opportunities to gain insights into the mechanisms regulating the regeneration of bone and cementum for optimal outcome in the periodontal patient.