Collectively, these observations support the hypothesis that BMP3 acts as a tumor suppressor or has a growth rate-limiting role in CRC development and progression.We further demonstrated that BMP3 binds to activin type IIB receptor in HCT116 and KM12 cells by IF staining and IP assays, which is consistent with previous reports [17, 18]. The gene discussed is ACVR2B; the disease is neoplasm.