Talk:Bone morphogenetic protein 4

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The statement: "BMP4 is secreted from the dorsal portion of the notochord, and it acts in concert with sonic hedgehog (released from the ventral portion of the notochord) to establish a dorsal-ventral axis for the differentiation of later structures." is misleading. This article should be edited by a developmental biologist. In the early embryo, BMP's are secreted from the epidermis, including the dorsal epidermis, and from the roof plate of the neural tube, while sonic hedgehog (SHH) is secreted from the notochord and floor plate of the neural tube. The two morphogens fight it out to specify the fates of neural progenitors alongside the DV axis of the neural tube. Ventral precursors, under control of high SHH concentrations, will give rise to motoneurons, ventral interneurons and oligodendrocytes, while dorsal precursors, under control of high BMP concentrations, as well as high Wnt concentrations, will give rise to sensory neurons, commissural neurons and dorsal interneurons. To my knowledge, the only BMP expressed ventral to the neural tube is BMP7, that is secreted by prechordal mesoderm (Cell, Vol. 90, 257–269, July 25, 1997). At this site, BMP7 is required coordinately with SHH to induce rostral diencephalic ventral midline cells.

I rearranged content to more appropriate locations and fixed grammatical problems. Content was added to address BMP4's role in neural development, tooth formation, ovarian follicle development, and beak characteristics in finches. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ncirillopenn (talk • contribs) 20:02, 28 January 2013 (UTC)