GDF7 Polyclonal Antibody

Growth/differentiation factors (GDFs) are members of the TGF superfamily (1,2) . Members of the TGF superfamily are involved in embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis (1) . GDF-1 expression is almost exclusively restricted to the central nervous system and mediates cell differentiation events during embryonic development (3) . Neither GDF-3 (Vgr-2) nor GDF-9 contains the conserved cysteine residue which is found in most other TGF superfamily members. GDF-3 is detectable in bone marrow, spleen, thymus and adipose tissue, whereas GDF-9 has only been detected in ovary (4) . GDF-5 (also designated CDMP-1) has been shown to induce activation of plasminogen activator, thereby inducing angiogenesis. It is predominantly expressed in long bones during fetal embryonic development and is involved in bone formation. (5) . GDF-5 mutations have been identified in mice with the mutation brachypodism (bp), a mutation which affects the length and number of bones in limbs (6) . GDF-6 and GDF-7 are closely related to GDF-5 (6) . GDF-8 has been shown to be a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass (1) .