Calvin Vary

Education

  • Bachelor of Science, Biology, North Carolina State University
  • PhD Biological Chemistry, Michigan State University

Biosketch

Dr. Vary is a senior scientist at the Maine Health Institute for Research. His training is in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology. Dr. Vary directs the MHIR Proteomics and Lipidomics core facility, and uses mass spectrometry to investigate molecular (e.g., protein, lipid) expression in a variety of contexts, including and trafficking in endothelial and cardiac progenitor cells. His current areas of interest include BMP receptor signaling (e.g., via BMP9/10 and ALK1/endoglin), angiogenesis, vascular development, disease, and tumor-microenvironment interactions in prostate cancer. He is a Professor of Medicine and a Member of the Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology Program, Tufts Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences Tufts University School of Medicine, a member of the GSBSE Faculty and has served on the GSBSE Cell and Molecular Biology Admissions Committee.

Research Interests

  • Cardiovascular
  • Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • Stem Cells

Our laboratory works to understand how endoglin, a TGFb/BMP receptor-associated transmembrane protein, and the TGFb/BMP receptors, regulate the process of angiogenesis and the occurrence of vascular pathology. In humans, mutations in the genes encoding either endoglin, or the BMP9/10 receptor ALK1, cause the vascular disease hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). Currently, we are interested in using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to elucidate BMP9/ALK1-dependent effects on the proteomes and secretomes of endothelial and cardiac progenitor cells.

Selected Service

Dr. Vary has been a member of the Maine Health Institute for Research (MHIR) Scientific Research Committee. He co-chairs the MHIR IACUC and chairs the MHIR Institutional Biosafety Committee. He has mentored MHIR residents, MD fellows, Post-doctoral fellows and graduate students in his laboratory. He currently holds the positions Professor of Medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine, and is associated with the Tufts Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences. He is also an associate of the Graduate Faculty in the University of Maine Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. In addition, Dr. Vary has served as chair of the Maine Technology Institute, Biotechnology Sector Board, and is a member of the HHT Foundation International Global Research and Medical Advisory Board.

Selected Grants

  • 2006-2015 – Regulation of TGF-beta receptor-dependent vascular disease (PI)
  • 2014 to 2017 — Endoglin is a novel Notch target gene – implications for vascular signaling from American Heart Association (PI)
  • 2019-2021 – Molecular Determinants of the fate of human heart mesenchymal progenitor cells (Multi PI)
  • 2020 – S10 Shared Instrument Grant (NIGMS) Sciex TripleTOF 6600+ System (PI)
  • Multi-year to Present: COBRE Proteomics and Lipidomics Core

Selected Publications: involving GSBSE Students

  • Moore M, Ryzhov S, Sawyer DB, Gartner C, Vary CPH. ALK1 Signaling in Human Cardiac Progenitor Cells Promotes a Pro-Angiogenic Secretome. J Cellular Signaling. 2024;In Press.
  • Soucy A, Potts C, Kaija A, Harrington A, McGilvrey M, Sutphin GL, Korstanje R, Tero B, Seeker J, Pinz I, et al. Effects of a Global Rab27a Null Mutation on Murine PVAT and Cardiovascular Function. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2024. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.124.320969
  • Pande S, Vary C, Yang X, Liaw L, Gower L, Friesel R, Prudovsky I, Ryzhov S. Endothelial IL17RD promotes Western diet-induced aortic myeloid cell infiltration. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2024;701:149552. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2024.149552
  • Costa S, Fairfield H, Farrell M, Murphy C, Soucy A, Vary C, Holdsworth G, Reagan MR. Sclerostin antibody increases trabecular bone and bone mechanical properties by increasing osteoblast activity damaged by whole-body irradiation in mice. Bone. 2021:115918. doi: 10.1016/j.bone.2021.115918
  • Bond KH, Chiba T, Wynne KPH, Vary CPH, Sims-Lucas S, Coburn JM, Oxburgh L. The Extracellular Matrix Environment of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Determines Cancer Associated Fibroblast Growth. Cancers (Basel). 2021;13. doi: 10.3390/cancers13235873
  • Rostama B, Beauchemin M, Bouchard C, Bernier E, Vary CPH, May M, Houseknecht KL. Understanding Mechanisms Underlying Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in Mental Illness: Risperidone and Olanzapine Alter the Hepatic Proteomic Signature in Mice. Int J Mol Sci. 2020;21. doi: 10.3390/ijms21249362
  • Boucher JM, Ryzhova L, Harrington A, Davis-Knowlton J, Turner JE, Cooper E, Maridas D, Ryzhov S, Rosen CJ, Vary CPH, et al. Pathological Conversion of Mouse Perivascular Adipose Tissue by Notch Activation. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2020;40:2227-2243. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.120.314731
  • Beauchemin M, Geguchadze R, Guntur AR, Nevola K, Le PT, Barlow D, Rue M, Vary CPH, Lary CW, Motyl KJ, et al. Exploring mechanisms of increased cardiovascular disease risk with antipsychotic medications: Risperidone alters the cardiac proteomic signature in mice. Pharmacol Res. 2020;152:104589. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2019.104589
  • Davis-Knowlton J, Turner JE, Turner A, Damian-Loring S, Hagler N, Henderson T, Emery IF, Bond K, Duarte CW, Vary CPH, et al. Characterization of smooth muscle cells from human atherosclerotic lesions and their responses to Notch signaling. Lab Invest. 2019;99:290-304. doi: 10.1038/s41374-018-0072-1
  • Uygur B, Leikina E, Melikov K, Villasmil R, Verma SK, Vary CPH, Chernomordik LV. Interactions with Muscle Cells Boost Fusion, Stemness, and Drug Resistance of Prostate Cancer Cells. Mol Cancer Res. 2018. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-18-0500
  • Young K, Krebs LT, Tweedie E, Conley B, Mancini M, Arthur HM, Liaw L, Gridley T, Vary C. Endoglin is required in Pax3-derived cells for embryonic blood vessel formation. Dev Biol. 2016:95-105. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2015.10.019
  • Young K, Tweedie E, Conley B, Ames J, FitzSimons M, Brooks P, Liaw L, Vary CP. BMP9 Crosstalk with the Hippo Pathway Regulates Endothelial Cell Matricellular and Chemokine Responses. PLoS One. 2015;10:e0122892. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0122892
  • Young K, Conley B, Romero D, Tweedie E, O’Neill C, Pinz I, Brogan L, Lindner V, Liaw L, Vary CP. BMP9 regulates endoglin-dependent chemokine responses in endothelial cells. Blood. 2012;120:4263-4273. doi: blood-2012-07-440784 [pii]
  • Romero D, O’Neill C, Terzic A, Contois L, Young K, Conley BA, Bergan RC, Brooks PC, Vary CPH. Endoglin regulates cancer-stromal cell interactions in prostate tumors. Cancer Res. 2011;71:3482–3493. doi: 0008-5472.CAN-10-2665