Michael Francis
University of South Florida, FL·Medicine & Clinical Research
Calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease (CPPD), often called pseudogout, happens when calcium pyrophosphate crystals build up in and around joints, especially in cartilage. It becomes far more common with age.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Biochemistry
Biomedical Engineering
- Topics
calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease
pseudogout
crystal arthropathy
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2028
What they work on
- Determine whether injecting lactic acid into the knee joint capsule of rabbits with degenerated knees causes calcium pyrophosphate crystals to form, measuring crystal prevalence, metabolomics and phenomics.
- Assess whether whole-body metabolic acidosis, an overly acidic body chemistry, promotes calcium pyrophosphate crystal formation in degenerated rabbit knees, using crystal counts, metabolomics and phenomics.
- Investigate how lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), the enzyme that produces lactic acid, contributes to calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease in degenerated rabbit knees.
More about the research
It affects over 21% of people by age 60 and half of those over 80, and about 30 million people worldwide. Despite this, it is poorly understood. Fewer than 5% of cases are linked to the ANKH gene, and no animal model exists for studying how the disease starts, progresses or might be treated.
Why it matters
Pseudogout causes painful, debilitating joint disease in a large share of older adults, yet there are no targeted treatments. A reliable animal model and a clear chemical mechanism for crystal formation could reveal molecular pathways for new therapies and diagnostics. That would benefit the millions of aging people affected by this understudied arthritis.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Sanja Novak
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, AR·Physiology
Evaluate how blood vessels in the synovium and subchondral bone change during OA development. Test whether early microvascular damage or later synovial angiogenesis drives cartilage damage, including after mechanical-stress knee injury.
Roberto Andresen Eguiluz
University of California-Merced, CA·Biomedical Engineering·Early-career
Build model articular cartilage surfaces with controlled molecular makeup and fibronectin conformations, so that the effect of each surface component on lubrication can be tested on its own.
William Lowry
University of California-Los Angeles, CA·Biology
Test whether raised glutaminolysis, the breakdown of glutamine for fuel, keeps hair follicle stem cells dormant when they lack lactate dehydrogenase (Ldh), using gain- and loss-of-function targeting of metabolic steps.
The school
University of South Florida: 20 labs on PI Pages, $522M a year on research, 305 research doctorates a year.
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