Positions

Overview

  • I am a pediatric neuromuscular physician-scientist. I earned my medical degree from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan and completed child neurology residency at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas. Afterwards, I did one year of clinical fellowship in neuromuscular medicine (pediatric track) at Stanford University. Additionally, I received my Ph.D. in Structural and Computational Biology and Molecular Biophysics from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

    My clinical interests within child neurology include muscular dystrophies, congenital myopathies, neuromuscular junction disorders, spinal muscular atrophy, and acquired/inherited polyneuropathies.

    • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2022 DOCKopathies: A systematic review of the clinical pathologies associated with human DOCK pathogenic variants.  Human Mutation.  43:1149-1161. 2022
    2022 miR-486 is essential for muscle function and suppresses a dystrophic transcriptome.  Life Science Alliance.  5. 2022
    2022 Smad8 Is Increased in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and Suppresses miR-1, miR-133a, and miR-133b.  International Journal of Molecular Sciences.  23. 2022
    2022 Pediatric Nemaline Myopathy: A Systematic Review Using Individual Patient Data.  Journal of Child Neurology.  37:652-663. 2022
    2021 Mechanics of dystrophin deficient skeletal muscles in very young mice and effects of age.  American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology.  321:C230-C246. 2021
    2021 miR-486 is an epigenetic modulator of Duchenne muscular dystrophy pathologies 2021
    2021 Clinical exome sequencing in the diagnosis of pediatric neuromuscular disease.  Muscle and Nerve.  63:304-310. 2021
    2020 DOCK3 is a dosage-sensitive regulator of skeletal muscle and Duchenne muscular dystrophy-associated pathologies.  Human Molecular Genetics.  29:2855-2871. 2020
    2020 “DOCK3 is a dosage-sensitive regulator of skeletal muscle and Duchenne muscular dystrophy-associated pathologies” 2020
    2020 Fibulin-5 mutation featuring Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, joint hyperlaxity, and scoliosis.  Neurology Genetics.  6. 2020
    2017 Anisotropic mechanosensitive pathways in the diaphragm and their implications in muscular dystrophies.  Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility.  38:437-446. 2017
    2017 Obesity modulates diaphragm curvature in subjects with and without COPD.  American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.  313:R620-R629. 2017
    2017 Novel therapeutic advances for muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy 2017
    2017 Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis in Children: A Report of Two Fatal Cases and Review of the Literature.  Pediatric Neurology.  70:75-79. 2017
    2016 Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection: A cause of fever of unknown origin in pediatric patients.  Clinical Infectious Diseases.  63:1475-1478. 2016
    2015 Genome-wide mechanosensitive microRNA (MechanomiR) screen uncovers dysregulation of their regulatory networks in the mdm mouse model of muscular dystrophy.  Journal of Biological Chemistry.  290:24986-25011. 2015
    2013 Ankyrin repeat domain protein 2 and inhibitor of DNA binding 3 cooperatively inhibit myoblast differentiation by physical interaction.  Journal of Biological Chemistry.  288:24560-24568. 2013
    2013 Novel deletion of lysine 7 expands the clinical, histopathological and genetic spectrum of TPM2-related myopathies.  Brain: a journal of neurology.  136:508-521. 2013
    2011 Induction of Sirt1 by mechanical stretch of skeletal muscle through the early response factor EGR1 triggers an antioxidative response.  Journal of Biological Chemistry.  286:2559-2566. 2011
    2010 Diaphragm muscle shortening modulates kinematics of lower rib cage in dogs.  American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.  299. 2010
    2010 Mechanical stretch up-regulates microRNA-26a and induces human airway smooth muscle hypertrophy by suppressing glycogen synthase kinase-3β.  Journal of Biological Chemistry.  285:29336-29347. 2010
    2010 Anisotropic regulation of Ankrd2 gene expression in skeletal muscle by mechanical stretch.  The FASEB Journal.  24:3330-3340. 2010
    2008 Early mechanical dysfunction of the diaphragm in the muscular dystrophy with myositis (Ttnmdm) model.  American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology.  295. 2008
    2008 FOXO transcription factors are mechanosensitive and their regulation is altered with aging in the respiratory pump.  American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology.  294. 2008
    2005 Force transmission, compliance, and viscoelasticity are altered in the α7-integrin-null mouse diaphragm.  American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology.  288. 2005

    Chapter

    Year Title Altmetric
    2018 Diseases of the Neuromuscular Junction 2018
    2017 Pediatric Tumefactive Demyelination.  55-60. 2017

    Research Overview

  • My research focus is on childhood-onset neuromuscular disease with particular interest in muscular dystrophies. One of my primary interests is in understanding the underlying pathophysiology of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and other dystrophies within in skeletal muscle and open novel lines of investigation towards treatment. My prior research involved understanding the role of mechanical signal transduction in skeletal muscle and uncovering its dysregulation in mouse models of muscular dystrophy. Presently, I am working with Drs. Matt Alexander and Peter King on the role of aberrantly regulated muscle-enriched microRNAs and their regulators in promoting dystrophic pathology.

    • Principal Investigator On

    Investigator On

    Education And Training

  • Baylor College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Residency
  • Doctor of Medicine, University of Michigan 2012
  • Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine 2010
  • Bachelor of Science or Mathematics in Chemical Engineering, Drexel University 2001

    • Full Name

  • Michael Lopez