Loss of Bone Morphogenetic Protein-9 Reduces Survival and Increases MMP Activity After Myocardial Infarction.

No studies have explored a functional role for bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-9, a transforming growth factor-ß superfamily ligand, in cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI). Using BMP-9 null mice, we observed that loss of BMP-9 decreases survival and increases cardiac rupture after MI. We further observed that loss of BMP-9 not only increases collagen abundance, but also promotes matrix metalloproteinase-9 activity and collagen degradation after MI. These findings identify BMP-9 as a necessary component of cardiac remodeling after MI and a potentially important target of therapy to improve outcomes after MI.