PERIODONTAL REGENERATION - POTENTIAL ROLE OF BONE MORPHOGENETIC PROTEINS

Initiation of osteogenesis and cementogenesis is a problem central to periodontal regeneration. A major advance in the understanding of bone formation has been the identification of an entirely new family of pr otein initiators, the bone morphogenetic proteins, that regulate carti lage and bone differentiation in vivo. The purification, genetic cloni ng and expression of recombinant human bone morphogenetic proteins (BM Ps) have laid the foundation for the cellular and molecular dissection of bone development and regeneration. The striking evolutionary conse rvation of the BMP genes indicates that they are critical in the norma l development and function of animals. In addition to postfetal osteog enesis, the BMPs may play multiple roles in embryonic development and organogenesis, including skeletogenesis and the development of craniof acial and dental tissues. The availability of recombinant human BMPs p rovides several challenges and opportunities to gain insights into the mechanisms regulating the regeneration of bone and cementum for optim al outcome in the periodontal patient.