Conditional deletion of BMP7 from the limb skeleton does not affect bone formation or fracture repair

While the osteoinductive activity of recombinant bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) is well established, evaluation of the role of endogenous BMP7 in bone formation and fracture healing has been hampered by perinatal lethality in BMP7 knockout mice. Here we employ conditional deletion of BMP7 from the embryonic limb prior to the onset of skeletogenesis to create limb bones lacking BMP7. We find that the absence of locally produced BMP7 has no effect on postnatal limb growth, articular cartilage formation, maintenance of bone mass, or fracture healing. Our data suggest that other BMPs present in adult bone are sufficient to compensate for the absence of BMP7.