Dermatology

Mouse and patient sample studies suggest BMP2 or BMP4 could help prevent or treat scars. Under culture conditions that promote adipocyte differentiation, dermal cells of wild-type mice taken from wounds containing hair-follicles - which express BM2 and BMP4 - differentiated into the mature adipocytes known to promote tissue regeneration instead of scarring, whereas dermal cells of wild-type mice taken from hairless wounds or dermal wound cells from mice that overexpressed the BMP2/BMP4 antagonist noggin (NOG) did not differentiate into adipocytes. In myofibroblasts from mouse wounds, BMP2 or BMP4 increased reprogramming into adipocytes compared with no treatment. In keloid scar cells from patients, BMP4 increased levels of adipocyte markers. Next steps could include testing topical BMP2 or BMP4 in hairless mouse wounds...