International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience · Nov 6, 2026
Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signalling in Adult Neurogenesis and Depression
By Pannu A
Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) pattern the dorsal telencephalon, are required for dentate gyrus neurogenesis and establish the postnatal subgranular stem cell niche; the same pathway then regulates neural stem cell quiescence and lineage progression throughout adult life. This narrative review uses that developmental continuity to evaluate BMP signalling in adult hippocampal neurogenesis and depression and argues that ligand, antagonist, receptor, cellular source, compartment and treatment phase must each be specified before a BMP measurement can be interpreted. Causal mouse experiments show that BMPR1A‐dependent signalling maintains dentate stem cell quiescence, that Noggin expands the stem cell compartment and that reduced hippocampal canonical BMP activity is required for the effects of several antidepressants and for the sustained, but not the rapid, effects of repeated ketamine. Age‐related increases in dentate BMP4 and phosphorylated SMAD1/5/9 independently demonstrate that this balance sets neurogenic capacity in the mature brain, whereas early‐life stress depletes the adult stem cell pool without BMP components having been measured. Human evidence is limited and compartmentally distinct: a 2026 multiomic study found a stalled hippocampal neurogenic trajectory in major depressive disorder without testing BMP involvement; BMP7 messenger RNA is lower in locus coeruleus astrocytes post‐mortem; and serum BMP7 was higher in anhedonic depression in one cohort. We conclude that the hippocampal ligand‐antagonist balance is the element of this hypothesis with genuine causal support and is now testable in human tissue, whereas the BMP7 findings are compartment‐specific associations with no demonstrated relationship to it.