A bone morphogenetic protein subfamily: chromosomal localization of human genes for BMP5, BMP6, and BMP7

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) were originally identified by the ability of a demineralized bone extract to induce endochondral osteogenesis in vivo. Seven BMP cDNAs (BMP1 through BMP7) have been recovered through molecular cloning. Recombinant protein products from six of these clones (BMP2 through BMP7) are members of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) superfamily of regulatory molecules. Based upon a high degree of amino acid sequence homology, BMP5, BMP6, and BMP7 constitute a subfamily within the BMPs. Using human-rodent somatic cell hybrid lines and cDNA probes, we mapped the three members of this subfamily of genes to the human chromosomes. BMP5 and BMP6 are syntenic on human chromosome 6, while BMP7 is syntenic with previously localized BMP2 on human chromosome 20. This analysis reveals that BMP6 maps to a conserved region between the mouse and human genomes. Sequence analysis suggests that the Drosophila 60A gene is the dipteran homolog of this BMP subfamily and may provide clues to the physiologic functions of the products of these genes in human biology.