In vitro and in vivo studies on the effects of bone morphogenetic protein-7 on human kidney and lung tumor cells.

Breast, kidney, lung, and prostate cancers are among the human cancers that show high propensity to form bone metastasis. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) -2 and -7 are two members of the BMP superfamily which show the most potent biological activity in stimulating bone differentiation and repair. These proteins have been used in clinical treatment of orthopedic diseases and have also been studied in different types of cancer. We report here detection of mRNA coding for three type I and one type II BMP receptors in G-402 kidney tumor cells and A-549 lung tumor cells, suggesting that these cells are responsive to BMPs. We then observed that BMP-7 inhibited cell proliferation of both cell lines in a protein concentration dependent manner in vitro. Additionally, when BMP-7-treated cells were implanted into the flank region of male nude mice, smaller tumors, compared to those formed with the untreated cells, were observed. Histological analysis showed that the masses formed at the site of implantation displayed significantly less number of tumors than the control and exhibited significant ectopic bone formation. These findings raise the possibility of BMP-7 as a therapeutic agent for kidney and lung cancers.