title: Role of bone morphogenetic protein-7 in renal fibrosis.
abstract: Renal fibrosis is final common pathway of end stage renal disease. Irrespective of the primary cause, renal fibrogenesis is a dynamic process which involves a large network of cellular and molecular interaction, including pro-inflammatory cell infiltration and activation, matrix-producing cell accumulation and activation, and secretion of profibrogenic factors that modulate extracellular matrix (ECM) formation and cell-cell interaction. Bone morphogenetic protein-7 is a protein of the TGF-β super family and increasingly regarded as a counteracting molecule against TGF-β. A large variety of evidence shows an anti-fibrotic role of BMP-7 in chronic kidney disease, and this effect is largely mediated via counterbalancing the profibrotic effect of TGF-β. Besides, BMP-7 reduced ECM formation by inactivating matrix-producing cells and promoting mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET). BMP-7 also increased ECM degradation. Despite these observations, the anti-fibrotic effect of BMP-7 is still controversial such that fine regulation of BMP-7 expression in vivo might be a great challenge for its ultimate clinical application.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong China.
authors.forename: Rui Xi
authors.initials: RX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong China.
authors.forename: Wai Han
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Yiu
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong China.
authors.forename: Sydney C W
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Tang
keywords: BMP-7; chronic kidney disease; cytokines; inflammation; renal fibrosis