Objective    To observe the effect of bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) on proliferation

activation and TGFβ signaling in TGFβ

1

inducing hepatic stell

ate cells (HSC)

and its anti-fibrosis mechanism.     Methods    Human HSC LX-2 cell line was treated with BMP-7 at different concentrations (80

40

20 ng/ml) and TGFβ

1

（5 ng/ml）.  Proliferation of HSC LX-2 cells was detected with cell counting kit-8 (CCK8).  Expressions of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and collagen Ⅰ

as well as TGF receptors Ⅰ and Ⅱ (TGFβRⅠ， TGFβRⅡ) mRNA

Smad 3，7 mRNAs

were detected by immunocytochemical assay and RT-PCR

respectively.     Results    No significant difference was found in proliferation of LX-2 cells before and after treatment with TGFβ

1

. BMP-7 used at different concentrations (80

40

20 ng/ml) inhibited the proliferation of LX-2 with an inhibition rate of 28.9%

19.6% and 10.5%

respectively (P0.01). The expression level of α-SMA and collagenⅠin LX-2 was higher in TGFβ

1

group than in control group (P0.01). BMP-7 decreased the expression of α-SMA

collagenⅠ

Smad3 and Smad7 in LX-2 in a dose-dependent manner 48 h after treatment with TGFβ

1

(P0.05). The expression level of TGFβRⅠ

TGFβRⅡ and Smad3 mRNA was higher

while that of Smad7 mRNA was lower after treatment with 5 ng/ml TGFβ

1

(P0.01). BMP-7 could reduce the expression of Smad3 mRNA and increase the expression of Smad7 mRNA (P0.05

but had no effect on the expression of TGFβR  mRNA.     Conclusion    BMP-7 inhibits the proliferation

activation and collagenⅠexpression by decreasing the Smad3 mRNA expression and increasing the Smad7 mRNA expression，thus antagonizing the role of TGFβ

1

in promotion of fibrosis.