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. 2019 Jul 24;6(3):201–223. doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2019.07.003

Figure 1.

Figure 1

BMP9/Smad signaling. BMP ligands bind to and subsequently activate receptor kinases, which eventually phosphorylate and promote heterodimeric formation of Smad proteins. These Smads proteins can then interact with Smad4 for proper nuclear localization, which is necessary for proper BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation. Experiments have demonstrated that RNAi-mediated knockdown of Smad4 reduced Smad heterodimer formation and nuclear localization; thus decreased osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells.