Expression of bone morphogenetic protein genes in the human dental pulp cells.

Dental pulp has a potential to induce ectopic bone formation, but little is known about its mechanism. We thought that bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), members of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily, are involved in the osteoinductive activity of dental pulp. In order to prove this assumption, we constructed a cDNA library from primary culture cells of human dental pulp (HDP cells), and screened the library with previously cloned cDNAs for mouse BMP-2 and -6 as probes. Three distinct cDNA clones encoding human BMP-2, -4 and -6 were isolated. By Northern blot analysis, specific transcripts of the genes of those BMPs were detected in the HDP cells. It was concluded that the BMPs were expressed in a certain population of dental pulp cells and might play some roles in ectopic bone formation by dental pulp.