Michael Convente is a 2nd year graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In June 2009, Michael joined the lab of Dr. Eileen Shore, a professor affiliated with the McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory at Penn. Dr. Shore, along with colleague Dr. Frederick Kaplan, study a disease called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), colloquially known as "stone-man disease". FOP is characterized by rapid and progressive endochondral ossification of cartilage and skeletal muscle, eventually leading to patients with severely limited mobility and respiratory function. After over a decade of research, Drs. Shore and Kaplan identified the gene responsibile for FOP, which was found to be the ACVR1 gene, a Bone Morphogenic Protein (BMP) receptor; these findings were published in Nature Genetics in 2006. A single de novo amino acid mutation (R206H) found in all FOP patients is responsible for the disease, and it is hypothesized that this mutation reduces binding affinity of an ACVR1 antagonist, leading to a slight, yet pathogenic constitutive receptor activity.
Michael is currently working on developing a sustainable ACVR1 (R206H) transgenic mouse line as part of his rotation project, in addition to characterizing morphological and compositional differences of bone between WT and ACVR1 (R206H) chimera mice. Furthermore, Michael is also investigating differences in the cellular composition of several tissues between WT and ACVR1 (R206H) chimera mice via various histological methods.
Michael's research interests include: (1) identifying molecular mechanisms implicated in FOP disease pathology, focusing on the inflammatory and wound response stages; (2) developing/testing various natural and synthetic ACVR1 inhibitors as potential therapeutic targets against receptor over-activation ; and (3) investigating potential regenerative medicine applications of over-active bone formation.
Prior to coming to Penn for his graduate studies, Michael was an undergraduate at Rutgers University, graduating magna cum laude in 2009 with a B.A. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. His work at Rutgers was conducted in the lab of Dr. Patricia Buckendahl at the Center of Alcohol Studies and focused on the effect of osteocalcin deficiency and prolonged ethanol consumption on bone morphology and composition in middle-aged mice. An abstract of Michael's research was accepted in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, and a full paper is awaiting publication.
Michael can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
