Extract
Since Marshall Urist's original description, in 1965, of the potential of
demineralized bone matrix to induce bone formation, the medical community has
anticipated the development of osteogenic
therapies1.
Following this discovery, researchers sought to identify and isolate these
growth factors, specifically bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs). Reddi and
Huggins first characterized these important molecules involved in bone
formation in 1973, and, in 1982, Sampath and Reddi developed a rat
subcutaneous assay for BMP activity that measures bone
formation2. They
found that BMPs initiate the bone-healing cascade through the recruitment of
and interactions with mesenchymal stem cells found in surrounding tissues,
including fascial planes, periosteum, peripheral blood, bone marrow, and
cancellous bone. Several, but not all, of the fifteen human BMPs described to
date have been found to bind to stem-cell receptors, triggering proliferation
and differentiation, and to result in bone regeneration and repair.