Publications by authors named "Michael R Convente"

Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a clinical condition that often reduces mobility and diminishes quality of life for affected individuals. The most severe form of progressive HO occurs in those with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP; OMIM #135100), a genetic disorder caused by a recurrent heterozygous gain-of-function mutation (R206H) in the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) type I receptor ACVR1/ALK2. In individuals with FOP, episodes of HO frequently follow injury.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Most FOP patients have a mutation in the ACVR1 gene, which triggers abnormal bone and cartilage growth.
  • * Palovarotene, a retinoic acid receptor γ agonist, has been shown to effectively prevent both spontaneous and injury-induced heterotopic ossification in mice with the human-like mutation, while also promoting normal bone growth and overall mobility.
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The formation of bone outside the endogenous skeleton is a significant clinical event, rendering affected individuals with immobility and a diminished quality of life. This bone, termed heterotopic ossification (HO), can appear in patients following invasive surgeries and traumatic injuries, as well as progressively manifest in several congenital disorders. A unifying feature of both genetic and nongenetic episodes of HO is immune system involvement at the early stages of disease.

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Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP; MIM #135100) is a debilitating genetic disorder of dysregulated cellular differentiation characterized by malformation of the great toes during embryonic skeletal development and by progressive heterotopic endochondral ossification postnatally. Patients with these classic clinical features of FOP have the identical heterozygous single nucleotide substitution (c.617G > A; R206H) in the gene encoding ACVR1/ALK2, a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) type I receptor.

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