Role of bone morphogenetic protein signal pathway in T lymphocyte differentiation and development

Bone morphogenetic protein（BMP） is the biggest and well known member of transforming growth factor-β（TGF-β） family because they can induce bone and cartilage formation. BMP signal pathway plays an important role not only in embryonic development but also in thymus development and T cell differentiation and development. Following is a review of the recent advances in BMP signaling pathway and its role in T cell differentiation and development.