Recombinant human BMP-2/-7 heterodimer protein expression for bone tissue engineering using recombinant baculovirus expression system

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are essential growth factors for bone formation, skeletal development and bone regeneration. The BMP-2/7 heterodimer is known to have remarkable effects on osteogenic induction that are even stronger than the BMP-2 or BMP-7 homodimers. We designed a recombinant human BMP-2/7 (rhBMP-2/7) heterodimer protein with four glycine residues between BMP-2 and BMP-7 protein to facilitate free bond rotation of domains. The Baculovirus Expression Vector System (BEVS) is routinely used to produce recombinant proteins in the milligram scale. In this study, the BEVS was used to express the rhBMP-2/7 protein whrer the recombinant baculovirus was recovered in the host Sf9 cells. To confirm the biological activity of rhBMP-2/7 protein secreted from the BEVS as an osteogenic differentiation and induction factor, we measured the BMP-induced ALP activity. rhBMP-2/7 could be used as an alternative to BMPs to overcome limitations like short half-life and requirement for high concentrations. Furthermore, rhBMP-2/7 may be an efficient tool for various application studies such as bone regeneration and skeletal development.