When an anti-human BMP antibody was added to cells of an immortalized human mesangial cell line cultured in the presence of human BMP, the anti-human BMP antibody significantly suppressed the production of type IV collagen in mesangial cells. A number of signaling pathways are involved in abnormal proliferation of type IV collagen. It was therefore completely unpredictable whether merely blocking the BMP signal would indeed suppress the abnormal proliferation of type IV collagen. However, for the first time, the present inventors demonstrated that anti-BMP antibodies are very effective in suppressing the abnormal proliferation of type IV collagen. Thus, anti-BMP antibodies can be used as novel therapeutic agents for kidney diseases associated with abnormal proliferation of the mesangial matrix.對於人源BMP存在下所培養之人源間質(mesangial)不死化(immortalized)細胞株投予抗人源BMP抗體，顯著地抑制源自間質不死化細胞之IV型膠原產生量。IV型膠原的異常增殖，係與多個信號傳遞路徑相關，BMP信號的阻斷可實際地抑制IV型信號的抑制無法全憑預測，而由本發明者們為最先了解抗BMP抗體為顯著有效地抑制IV型膠原的異常增殖。抗BMP抗體成為間質基質異常增殖相關的腎疾患的新穎治療藥。
