Reciprocal action between BMP-2 and BMP-3 in cultured fibroblast in vitro

To explore reciprocal action between BMP-2 (bone morphogenetic protein-2) and BMP-3 for better understanding of the mechanism of BMP during bone fracture union. rhBMP-2 was added into the cultured fibroblasts with the concentration of 1,200 ng/ml. The expression of BMP-3 in fibroblasts was detected by immunohistochemistry. Eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3-BMP-3 was transfected into the fibroblasts. After the effective expression of BMP-3 was identified, BMP-2 was also detected by immunohistochemistry in BMP-3 expression cells. The fibroblasts transfected with empty vector pcDNA3 were used as the control. Exogenous rhBMP-2 could promote the expression of BMP-3 in fibroblasts. BMP-3 also could be detected in these cells. BMP-2 and BMP-3 could reciprocally adjust the expression in fibroblasts.