Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Sep 11.
Published in final edited form as: J Orthop Trauma. 2018 Jun;32(6):288–295. doi: 10.1097/BOT.0000000000001160

Fig 2.

Fig 2

Illustration of selective components in the BMP signaling pathway, important for bone and cartilage formation and fracture healing. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) induce intracellular signaling by binding the transmembrane receptors BMPR-II and BMPR-I. When these serine/threonine receptors are activated by BMPs, BMPR-I becomes phosphorylated. When both BMPR-II and BMPR-I are bound to BMPs and phosphorylated, downstream signaling is activated via the phosphorylation of transcription factors SMAD 1/5/8. Activated pSMAD 1/5/8 forms a complex with cofactor SMAD4, allowing for the regulated transcription of downstream target genes.