Bone morphogenetic protein 2/4 signaling regulates early thymocyte differentiation.

Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)2 and BMP4 are involved in the development of many tissues. In this study, we show that BMP2/4 signaling is involved in thymocyte development. Our data suggest that termination of BMP2/4 signaling is necessary for differentiation of CD44(+)CD25(-)CD4(-)CD8(-) double negative (DN) cells along the T cell lineage. BMP2 and BMP4 are produced by the thymic stroma and the requisite BMP receptor molecules (BMPR-1A, BMPR-1B, BMPR-II), and signal transduction molecules (Smad-1, -5, -8, and -4) are expressed by DN thymocytes. BMP4 inhibits thymocyte proliferation, enhances thymocyte survival, and arrests thymocyte differentiation at the CD44(+)CD25(-) DN stage, before T cell lineage commitment. Neutralization of endogenous BMP2 and BMP4 by treatment with the antagonist Noggin promotes and accelerates thymocyte differentiation, increasing the expression of CD2 and the proportion of CD44(-)CD25(-) DN cells and CD4(+)CD8(+) double-positive cells. Our study suggests that the BMP2/4 pathway may function in thymic homeostasis by regulating T cell lineage commitment and differentiation.