Bone morphogenetic protein-9 inhibits lymphatic vessel formation via activin receptor-like kinase 1 during development and cancer progression.

Lymphatic vessels (LVs) play critical roles in the maintenance of fluid homeostasis and in pathological conditions, including cancer metastasis. Although mutations in ALK1, a member of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β/bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) receptor family, have been linked to hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, a human vascular disease, the roles of activin receptor-like kinase 1 (ALK-1) signals in LV formation largely remain to be elucidated. We show that ALK-1 signals inhibit LV formation, and LVs were enlarged in multiple organs in Alk1-depleted mice. These inhibitory effects of ALK-1 signaling were mediated by BMP-9, which decreased the number of cultured lymphatic endothelial cells. Bmp9-deficient mouse embryos consistently exhibited enlarged dermal LVs. BMP-9 also inhibited LV formation during inflammation and tumorigenesis. BMP-9 downregulated the expression of the transcription factor prospero-related homeobox 1, which is necessary to maintain lymphatic endothelial cell identity. Furthermore, silencing prospero-related homeobox 1 expression inhibited lymphatic endothelial cell proliferation. Our findings reveal a unique molecular basis for the physiological and pathological roles of BMP-9/ALK-1 signals in LV formation.