Pathway Human Homo sapiens

Signaling by BMP

R-HSA-201451 in Reactome release 97: under Signaling by TGFB family members, with 31 genes placed in it by the mapping files and 0 child pathways in the hierarchy.

The same number in the other species

Reactome writes the mouse and rat events it infers from a human pathway under the human number with the species token. A door opens only where that species' own list in this release holds the id: R-MMU-201451 (mouse), R-RNO-201451 (rat). Whether the event was inferred from this one is what the record says.

The record
The genes
Parents and children

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This page reads the pathway's record from its source while you read the rest; with scripts off the card stays at its loading line. Reload with scripts on to see it, or open the source's own page from the link in the card.

01The record

Reactome's own record of this pathway

What this tells you

The pathway list, the hierarchy and the genes on this page are read from the files Reactome publishes for Reactome release 97, built into this site on 2026-09-09: the pathway list, the hierarchy relationship file and the two gene mapping files. The record card is the one live read, Reactome's own record of this pathway.

Reactome's download page describes the mapping files: Mapping files link the source database identifier to the lowest level pathway diagram or subset of the pathway, all levels of the pathway hierarchy or database identifier to all reactions. [R13] The gene list here is the all-levels mapping of NCBI Gene ids, filled from the all-levels mapping of Ensembl ids where the NCBI file has no row for a gene; each row names which file it came from by the shape of its source id. Each row carries the evidence codes the file writes for it, as written and unranked, and both where the file writes both; no page of Reactome's documentation the survey read defines the codes, so this page does not expand them. A gene id the identity files do not name is kept as the source's own id with no door rather than turned into a symbol.

On citing what a search finds, Reactome says: It should be remembered that while we strive to contain the most current and accurate data, Reactome should not be used in citations where other primary sources of information are available. [R12] The record card prints the literature Reactome attaches to a curated pathway for that reason. The data are public domain: All data in the Reactome database and files derived from that data are licensed under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0). User may copy, modify, and distribute these data, even for commercial purposes, without asking for permission. Attribution is encouraged but not required. [R10] The pathway illustrations are licensed apart, under CC BY 4.0, and none is shown here.

A gene on this list is one Reactome places in this pathway in this release, and that is all the row says: it does not say the gene is expressed in a tissue or associated with a disease, which are the other two explorers' questions, read from other sources. Reactome's papers of record are [R01] [R02].

[R01] Ragueneau E, Gong C, Sinquin P, Sevilla C, Beavers D, Grentner A, et al. (2026). The Reactome Knowledgebase 2026. Nucleic Acids Research 54:D673-D681. PMID 41251150, doi 10.1093/nar/gkaf1223.
[R02] Milacic M, Beavers D, Conley P, Gong C, Gillespie M, Griss J, et al. (2024). The Reactome Pathway Knowledgebase 2024. Nucleic Acids Research 52:D672-D678. PMID 37941124, doi 10.1093/nar/gkad1025.
[R10] Reactome, reactome.org. License Agreement. https://reactome.org/license, read 2026-09-09.
[R12] Reactome, reactome.org. Citing us. https://reactome.org/cite, read 2026-09-09.
[R13] Reactome, reactome.org. Download. https://reactome.org/download-data, read 2026-09-09.

Stable id: R-HSA-201451.6
Class: Pathway
Species: Homo sapiens (human)
Inferred: no: a curated human pathway
Disease pathway: no
Released: 2007-12-11
Last updated: 2023-09-13
Events inside: 17, counted from the record

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) have many biological activities in various tissues, including bone, cartilage, blood vessels, heart, kidney, neurons, liver and lung. They are members of the Transforming growth factor-Beta (TGFB) family. They bind to type II and type I serine-threonine kinase receptors, which transduce signals through SMAD and non-SMAD signalling pathways. BMP signalling is linked to a wide variety of clinical disorders, including vascular diseases, skeletal diseases and cancer. BMPs typically activate BMP type I receptors and signal via SMAD1, 5 and 8. They can be classified into several subgroups, including the BMP2/4 group, the BMP5-8 osteogenic protein-1 (OP1) group, the growth and differentiation factor (GDF) 5-7 group and the BMP9/10 group. Most of the proteins of the BMP2/4, OP1 and BMP9/10 groups induce formation of bone and cartilage tissues in vivo, while the GDF5-7 group induce cartilage and tendon-like, but not bone-like, tissues (Miyazono et al. 2010). Members of the TGFB family bind to two types of serine-threonine kinase receptors, type I and type II (Massagué 2012). BMPs can bind type I receptors in the absence of type II receptors, but both types are required for signal transduction. The presence of both types dramatically increases binding affinity (Rozenweig et al. 1995). The type II receptor kinase transphosphorylates the type I receptor, which transmits specific intracellular signals. Type I and type II receptors share similar structural properties, comprised of a relatively short extracellular domain, a single membrane-spanning domain and an intracellular domain containing a serine-threonine kinase domain. Seven receptors, collectively referred to as the Activin receptor-like kinases (ALK), have been identified as type I receptors for the TGFB family in mammals. ALKs are classified into three groups based on their structure and function, the BMPRI group (Bone morphogenetic protein receptor type-1A, ALK3, BMPR1A and Bone morphogenetic protein receptor type-1B, ALK6, BMPR1B), the ALK1 group (Serine/threonine-protein kinase receptor R3, ALK1, ACVRL1 and Activin receptor type-1, ALK2, ACVR1) and the TBetaR1 group (Activin receptor type-1B, ALK4, ACVR1B and TGF-beta receptor type-1, ALK5, TGFBR1 and Activin receptor type-1C, ALK7, ACVR1C) (Kawabata et al. 1998). ALK1 group and BMPRI group activate SMAD1/5/8 and transduce similar intracellular signals. The TBetaR1 group activate SMAD2/3. BMPR1A and ACVR1 are widely expressed. BMPR1B shows a more restricted expression profile. ACVRL1 is limited to endothelial cells and a few other cell types. The binding specificities of BMPs to type I receptors is affected by the type II receptors that are present (Yu et al. 2005). Typically, BMP2 and BMP4 bind to BMPR1A and BMPR1B (ten Dijke et al. 1994). BMP6 and BMP7 bind strongly to ACVR1 and weakly to BMPR1B. Growth/differentiation factor 5 (BMP14, GDF5) preferentially binds to BMPR1B, but not to other type I receptors (Nishitoh et al. 1995). BMP9 and BMP10 bind to ACVRL1 and ACVRL (Scharpfenecker et al. 2007). BMP type I receptors are shared by other members of the TGFB family. Three receptors, Bone morphogenetic protein receptor type-2 (BMPR2), Activin receptor type-2A (ACVR2A) and Activin receptor type-2B (ACVR2B) are the type II receptors for mammalian BMPs. They are widely expressed in various tissues. BMPR2 is specific for BMPs, whereas ACVR2A and ACVR2B are shared with activins and myostatin. BMP binding and signalling can be affected by coreceptors. Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins of the repulsive guidance molecule (RGM) family, including RGMA, RGMB (DRAGON) and Hemojuvelin (HFE2, RGMC) are coreceptors for BMP2 and BMP4, enhancing signaling (Samad et al. 2005, Babitt et al. 2005, 2006). They interact with BMP type I and/or type II receptors and bind BMP2 and BMP4, but not BMP7 or TGFB1. BMP2/4 signalling normally involves BMPR2, not ACVR2A or ACVR2B. Cells transfected with RGMA use both BMPR2 and ACVR2A for BMP-2/4 signalling, suggesting that RGMA facilitates the use of ACVR2A by BMP2/4 (Xia et al. 2007). Endoglin (ENG) is a transmembrane protein expressed in proliferating endothelial cells. It binds various ligands including TGFB1/3, Activin-A and BMP2/7 (Barbara et al. 1999). It inhibits TGFB-induced responses and enhances BMP7-induced responses (Scherner et al. 2007). Mutations in ENG result in hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT1), also known as OslerWeberRendu disease, while mutations in ACVRL1 lead to HHT2, suggesting that they act in a common signalling pathway (McAllister et al. 1994, Johnson et al. 1996). BMP2 is a dimeric protein, having two receptor-binding motifs. One is a high-affinity binding site for BMPR1A, the other is a low-affinity binding site for BMPR2 (Kirsch et al. 2000). In the absence of ligand stimulation, small fractions of type II and type I receptors are present as preexisting homodimers and heterodimers on the cell surface. Ligand-binding increases oligomerization. The intracellular domains of type I receptors have a characteristic GS domain (glycine and serine-rich domain) located N-terminal to the serine-threonine kinase domains. Type II receptor kinases are constitutively active in the absence of ligand. Upon ligand binding, the type II receptor kinase phosphorylates the GS domain of the type I receptor, a critical event in signal transduction by the serine/threonine kinase receptors (Miyazono et al. 2010). Activation of the TGFBR1 receptor has been studied in detail. The inactive conformation is maintained by interaction between the GS domain, the N-terminal lobe and the activation loop of the kinase (Huse et al. 1999). When the GS domain is phosphorylated by the type II receptor kinase, the TGFBR1 kinase is converted to an active conformation. Mutations of Thr-204 in TGFBR1 and the corresponding Gln in BMP type I receptors lead to their constitutive activation. The L45 loop, in the kinase domain of type I receptors, specifically interacts with receptor-regulated Smads (R-Smads). Neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor type 3 (NT-3 growth factor receptor, TrkC, NTRK3) directly binds BMPR2, interfereing with its interaction with BMPR1A, which inhibits downstream signalling (Jin et al. 2007). Tyrosine-protein kinase transmembrane receptor ROR2 and BMPR1B form a heteromeric complex in a ligand independent fashion that modulatesGDF5-BMPR1B signalling by inhibition of Smad1/5 signalling (Sammar et al. 2004). Type I receptor kinases activated by the type II receptor kinases, phosphorylate R-Smads. R-Smads then form a complex with common-partner Smad (co-Smad) and translocate to the nucleus. The oligomeric Smad complexes regulate the transcription of target genes through interaction with various transcription factors and transcriptional coactivators or corepressors. Inhibitory Smads (I-Smads) negatively regulate the action of R-Smads and/or co-Smads. Eight different Smads have been identified in mammals. Smad1, Smad5 and Smad8 are R-Smads in BMP signalling pathways (BMP-specific R-Smads). Smad2 and Smad3 are R-Smads in TGFB/activin

signalling pathways. BMP receptors can phosphorylate Smad2 in certain types of cells (Murakami et al. 2009). Smad1, Smad5 and Smad8 are structurally highly similar to each other. The functional differences between them are largely unknown. Smad4 is the only co-Smad in mammals, shared by both BMP and TGFB/activin signalling pathways. Smad6 and Smad7 are I-Smads.

Literature Reactome attaches

Bone morphogenetic protein receptors and signal transductionJ Biochem, 2010, vol. 147, p. 35-51PubMed 19762341
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins in Vascular Homeostasis and DiseaseCold Spring Harb Perspect Biol, 2017PubMed 28348038

Reactome's record lists 10 orthologous events, R-MMU-201451 (Mus musculus), R-RNO-201451 (Rattus norvegicus) among the species this site serves, and 8 in species this site opens no page for.

Reactome ContentService, this pathway's record · Reactome v97 · read 2026-10-01 ET · Reactome pathway browser"Signaling by BMP". Reactome, release 97, https://reactome.org/PathwayBrowser/#/R-HSA-201451 with StableID: R-HSA-201451.6 (accessed 2026-10-01 ET). Reactome version 97 (CC0).

Reading this pathway's record from Reactome (the pathway record).Still reading. A first read of a pathway can take a while; this page waits up to 35 seconds for it, and its scripts then bring in the panel, or a line saying what did not arrive.

02The genes

Genes Reactome places in this human pathway

The mapping files place 31 genes in this human pathway; showing 1 to 31, in pages of 100, sorted by symbol for reading. The order carries no ranking.

Genes Reactome places in this human pathway, page 1 of 1
Gene	Authority id	Mapping file id	Evidence codes
GeneACVR2A	AuthorityHGNC:173	Mapping file id92 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneACVR2B	AuthorityHGNC:174	Mapping file id93 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneACVRL1	AuthorityHGNC:175	Mapping file id94 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneAMH	AuthorityHGNC:464	Mapping file id268 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneAMHR2	AuthorityHGNC:465	Mapping file id269 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneBMP10	AuthorityHGNC:20869	Mapping file id27302 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneBMP2	AuthorityHGNC:1069	Mapping file id650 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneBMPR1A	AuthorityHGNC:1076	Mapping file id657 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneBMPR1B	AuthorityHGNC:1077	Mapping file id658 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneBMPR2	AuthorityHGNC:1078	Mapping file id659 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneCER1	AuthorityHGNC:1862	Mapping file id9350 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneCHRDL1	AuthorityHGNC:29861	Mapping file id91851 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneFSTL1	AuthorityHGNC:3972	Mapping file id11167 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneGDF2	AuthorityHGNC:4217	Mapping file id2658 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneGREM2	AuthorityHGNC:17655	Mapping file id64388 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneINHA	AuthorityHGNC:6065	Mapping file id3623 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneINHBA	AuthorityHGNC:6066	Mapping file id3624 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneNOG	AuthorityHGNC:7866	Mapping file id9241 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneSKI	AuthorityHGNC:10896	Mapping file id6497 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneSMAD1	AuthorityHGNC:6767	Mapping file id4086 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneSMAD4	AuthorityHGNC:6770	Mapping file id4089 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneSMAD5	AuthorityHGNC:6771	Mapping file id4090 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneSMAD6	AuthorityHGNC:6772	Mapping file id4091 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneSMAD7	AuthorityHGNC:6773	Mapping file id4092 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneSMAD9	AuthorityHGNC:6774	Mapping file id4093 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneSMURF1	AuthorityHGNC:16807	Mapping file id57154 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneSMURF2	AuthorityHGNC:16809	Mapping file id64750 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneTGFBR3	AuthorityHGNC:11774	Mapping file id7049 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneUBE2D1	AuthorityHGNC:12474	Mapping file id7321 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneUBE2D3	AuthorityHGNC:12476	Mapping file id7323 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS
GeneZFYVE16	AuthorityHGNC:20756	Mapping file id9765 NCBI file	EvidenceTAS

Evidence codes on this page: TAS, as the mapping file writes them; a row carrying two was written twice by the file, once under each. The mapping file id says which file placed the gene: an NCBI Gene id from NCBI2Reactome_All_Levels.txt, an Ensembl gene id from Ensembl2Reactome_All_Levels.txt. The two files can disagree about a code, so a row's codes are the one file's view. Measured by this site's build over this release on 2026-09-09: of the 138,908 human pathway-gene pairs both files place, 207 (0.149 per cent, over 47 genes) carry TAS in the Ensembl file where the NCBI rows carry IEA alone.

Reactome mapping files, the human rows for this pathway · Reactome release 97 · read 2026-09-09 · Reactome downloads"NCBI2Reactome_All_Levels.txt" and "Ensembl2Reactome_All_Levels.txt", Reactome, release 97, https://reactome.org/download-data/ (date of access 2026-09-09). Data CC0; attribution encouraged.

03The hierarchy

Parents and children in this release's hierarchy

Parents

Signaling by TGFB family membersR-HSA-9006936161 genes

Children

None: no pathway of this release's list names this one as a parent.

Reactome's hierarchy is a graph rather than a tree: a pathway can sit under more than one parent, and the gene counts are each pathway's own placements at every level under it, so a parent's count is not the sum of its children's.

Reactome, the human pathway list and hierarchy relationship file · Reactome release 97 · read 2026-09-09 · Reactome downloads"ReactomePathways.txt" and "ReactomePathwaysRelation.txt", Reactome, release 97, https://reactome.org/download-data/ (date of access 2026-09-09). Data CC0; attribution encouraged.