Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (BMP-2) is a bone-growth regulatory factor and belongs to the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily. Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (BMP-2) is synthesized as large precursor molecule (Met1-Arg396, with a signal peptide from Met1 to Gly23), propeptide (Leu24-Arg282) of which is cleaved by PCSK5 (Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin type 5). The active form consists of a dimer of two identical proteins which are linked by a disulfide bond at Cys360. It plays an important role in the development of bone and cartilage, cardiac cell differentiation and epithelial to mesenchymal transition. It is also involved in the hedgehog pathway, TGF-beta signaling pathway, and in cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction.
Recombinant human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (rhBMP-2) produced in E. coli is a disulfide-linked homodimer containing two non-glycosylated polypeptide chains of 115 amino acids. A fully biologically active molecule, rhBMP-2 has a molecular mass of 26 kDa analyzed by non-reducing SDS-PAGE and is obtained by proprietary refolding and chromatographic techniques at GenScript.