{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T18:49:42Z","timestamp":1792522182641,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760486400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Mol. Biosci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 (<jats:italic>BMP4<\/jats:italic>) plays a critical role in development, but its function in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) is not well understood. We found that <jats:italic>BMP4<\/jats:italic> is minimally expressed in the normal pancreas but markedly upregulated in PAAD, correlating with poor patient survival. Pan-cancer analysis revealed distinct expression and prognostic patterns of <jats:italic>BMP4<\/jats:italic>, while pathway analyses indicated that <jats:italic>BMP4<\/jats:italic> predominantly regulates metabolic rather than canonical BMP signaling. Single-cell RNA-seq showed <jats:italic>BMP4<\/jats:italic> enrichment in cancer cells and cancer stem cells, supporting its role in tumor metabolism. Importantly, <jats:italic>BMP4<\/jats:italic> was identified as an independent prognostic factor for PAAD, and a nomogram incorporating <jats:italic>BMP4<\/jats:italic> accurately predicted patient outcomes. Although <jats:italic>BMP4<\/jats:italic> affected certain immune cell infiltrations, its prognostic impact was largely independent of immune modulation. Collectively, these findings highlight <jats:italic>BMP4<\/jats:italic> as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in PAAD.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmolb.2025.1686938","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T04:24:17Z","timestamp":1760502257000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Comprehensive analyses of single-cell and bulk RNA-seq reveal the biological and prognostic roles of BMP4 in pancreatic adenocarcinoma"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Ao","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xinglong","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shan","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chao","family":"Bi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yang","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yunfeng","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Meng","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yun","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huaizhang","family":"Jin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaopeng","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Dai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yang","family":"Lei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"574","DOI":"10.1038\/s41416-020-01121-y","article-title":"Melanoma recurrence patterns and management after adjuvant targeted therapy: a multicentre analysis","volume":"124","author":"Bhave","year":"2021","journal-title":"Br. 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