Xaralabos Varelas, PhD
Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Biochemistry & Cell Biology

PhD, University of Alberta
BSc, McGill University

Pronouns: he/him/his



Research in the Varelas lab is focused on gaining insight into the molecular mechanisms by which cell fate is coordinated with cell proliferation and survival during animal development and disease. The lab is particularly interested in understanding the roles and regulation of the transcriptional regulators YAP and TAZ (YAP/TAZ), which are key effectors of the Hippo signaling pathway.

YAP/TAZ integrate cell polarity and mechanical cues with information relayed by growth factors and chemicals to direct essential processes and maintain organ homeostasis. The lab is incorporating genetic and biochemical approaches to define how YAP/TAZ control developmental events, and how dysregulation of YAP/TAZ activity contributes the etiology of various diseases, such as cancer.

Member
Boston University
BU-BMC Cancer Center


Member
Boston University
Pulmonary Center


Member
Boston University
Center for Regenerative Medicine


Member
Boston University
Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research


Member
Boston University
Genome Science Institute


Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students)
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences




Defining immune-evasive mechanical signaling in head and neck cancer
06/06/2024 - 03/31/2029 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research
1R01DE033519-01

Targeting Transcriptional Networks Directing Immune Evasion in Progressive Bronchial Premalignant Lesions
07/01/2024 - 06/30/2027 (PI)
Department of Defense/Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity


Defining age-associated alterations in oral squamous cell carcinoma
04/01/2023 - 03/31/2027 (Key Person / Mentor)
PI: Anthony Spinella
NIH/National Institute on Aging
5F30AG077929-02

Defining the Beta-catenin/CBP axis in head and neck cancer
12/07/2020 - 11/30/2025 (Multi-PI)
PI: Xaralabos Varelas, PhD
NIH/National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research
5R01DE030350-04

Defining epithelial polarity cues that direct cell fate
02/15/2020 - 01/31/2025 (PI)
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
5R01HL124392-10

Mechanotransduction and YAP/TAZ Signaling in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
01/01/2018 - 12/31/2024 (Subcontract PI)
The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc. NIH NHLBI
5R01HL137366-04

Defining non-nuclear roles for Yap in the development of multi-ciliated cells
04/01/2018 - 03/31/2024 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of Child Health & Human Development
5R21HD094012-02

Defining molecular signals that influence airway basal cell renewal and growth
01/01/2020 - 06/30/2023 (Key Person / Mentor)
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
5F31HL149381-04

Intercepting aberrant YAP/TAZ activity for the treatment of lung cancer
12/29/2017 - 06/30/2023 (PI)
Janssen Research & Development, LLC


Mechanobiology of Lung Fibrosis
04/03/2019 - 03/31/2023 (Subcontract PI)
Mayo Clinic NIH NHLBI
5R01HL092961-12

Showing 10 of 27 results. Show All Results


Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2024 Defining immune-evasive mechanical signaling in head and neck cancer 1R01DE033519-01
2024 Defining the ß-catenin/CBP-catenin/CBP axis in head and neck cancer 5R01DE030350-04
2024 Defining epithelial polarity cues that direct cell fate 5R01HL124392-10
2023 Defining the ß-catenin/CBP-catenin/CBP axis in head and neck cancer 5R01DE030350-03
2023 Defining epithelial polarity cues that direct cell fate 5R01HL124392-09
2022 Defining the ß-catenin/CBP-catenin/CBP axis in head and neck cancer 5R01DE030350-02
2022 Defining epithelial polarity cues that direct cell fate 5R01HL124392-08
2021 Enhancement and Cloud Deployment of CaDrA, a software tool for Candidate Driver Analysis of Multiomics Data 3R01DE030350-01A1S1
2021 Defining the β-catenin/CBP-catenin/CBP axis in head and neck cancer 1R01DE030350-01A1
2021 Defining epithelial polarity cues that direct cell fate 5R01HL124392-07 17
Showing 10 of 18 results. Show All Results

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. Raslan AA, Pham TX, Lee J, Kontodimas K, Tilston-Lunel A, Schmottlach J, Hong J, Dinc T, Bujor AM, Caporarello N, Thiriot A, von Andrian UH, Huang SK, Nicosia RF, Trojanowska M, Varelas X, Ligresti G. Lung injury-induced activated endothelial cell states persist in aging-associated progressive fibrosis. Nat Commun. 2024 Jun 27; 15(1):5449.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38937456; PMCID: PMC11211333; DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49545-x;
     
  2. Etesami NS, Barker KA, Shenoy AT, De Ana CL, Arafa EI, Grifno GN, Matschulat AM, Vannini ME, Pihl RMF, Breen MP, Soucy AM, Goltry WN, Ha CT, Betsuyaku H, Browning JL, Varelas X, Traber KE, Jones MR, Quinton LJ, Maglione PJ, Nia HT, Belkina AC, Mizgerd JP. B cells in the pneumococcus-infected lung are heterogeneous and require CD4+ T cell help including CD40L to become resident memory B cells. Front Immunol. 2024; 15:1382638.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38715601; PMCID: PMC11074383; DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1382638;
     
  3. Burgess CL, Huang J, Bawa PS, Alysandratos KD, Minakin K, Ayers LJ, Morley MP, Babu A, Villacorta-Martin C, Yampolskaya M, Hinds A, Thapa BR, Wang F, Matschulat A, Mehta P, Morrisey EE, Varelas X, Kotton DN. Generation of human alveolar epithelial type I cells from pluripotent stem cells. Cell Stem Cell. 2024 May 02; 31(5):657-675.e8.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38642558; PMCID: PMC11147407; DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2024.03.017;
     
  4. Crossey E, Carty S, Shao F, Henao-Vasquez J, Ysasi AB, Zeng M, Hinds A, Lo M, Tilston-Lunel A, Varelas X, Jones MR, Fine A. Influenza Induces Lung Lymphangiogenesis Independent of YAP/TAZ Activity in Lymphatic Endothelial Cells. Res Sq. 2024 Feb 27.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38463972; PMCID: PMC10925403; DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3951689/v1;
     
  5. Ma L, Thapa BR, Le Suer JA, Tilston-Lünel A, Herriges MJ, Berical A, Beermann ML, Wang F, Bawa PS, Kohn A, Ysasi AB, Kiyokawa H, Matte TM, Randell SH, Varelas X, Hawkins FJ, Kotton DN. Airway stem cell reconstitution by the transplantation of primary or pluripotent stem cell-derived basal cells. Cell Stem Cell. 2023 Sep 07; 30(9):1199-1216.e7.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37625411; PMCID: PMC10528754; DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2023.07.014;
     
  6. Khan MM, Frustino J, Villa A, Nguyen BC, Woo SB, Johnson WE, Varelas X, Kukuruzinska M, Monti S. Total RNA sequencing reveals gene expression and microbial alterations shared by oral pre-malignant lesions and cancer. Hum Genomics. 2023 Aug 04; 17(1):72.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37542347; PMCID: PMC10403884; DOI: 10.1186/s40246-023-00519-y;
     
  7. Reed ER, Jankowski SA, Spinella AJ, Noonan V, Haddad R, Nomoto K, Matsui J, Bais MV, Varelas X, Kukuruzinska MA, Monti S. ß-catenin/CBP activation of mTORC1 signaling promotes partial epithelial-mesenchymal states in head and neck cancer. Transl Res. 2023 Oct; 260:46-60.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37353110; PMCID: PMC10527608; DOI: 10.1016/j.trsl.2023.05.007;
     
  8. Federico A, Kern J, Varelas X, Monti S. Structure learning for gene regulatory networks. PLoS Comput Biol. 2023 May; 19(5):e1011118.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37200395; PMCID: PMC10231840; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011118;
     
  9. Ning B, Tilston-Lunel AM, Simonetti J, Hicks-Berthet J, Matschulat A, Pfefferkorn R, Spira A, Edwards M, Mazzilli S, Lenburg ME, Beane JE, Varelas X. Convergence of YAP/TAZ, TEAD and TP63 activity is associated with bronchial premalignant severity and progression. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2023 May 08; 42(1):116.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37150829; PMCID: PMC10165825; DOI: 10.1186/s13046-023-02674-5;
     
  10. Khan MM, Frustino J, Villa A, Nguyen BC, Woo SB, Johnson WE, Varelas X, Kukuruzinska M, Monti S. Total RNA sequencing reveals gene expression and microbial alterations shared by oral pre-malignant lesions and cancer. bioRxiv. 2023 Mar 24.View Related Profiles. PMID: 36993637; PMCID: PMC10055367; DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.24.534064;
     
Showing 10 of 84 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 84 publications over 20 distinct years, with a maximum of 9 publications in 2023

YearPublications
20031
20051
20061
20081
20092
20102
20113
20121
20134
20146
20154
20162
20178
20184
20197
20208
20218
20228
20239
20244

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Contact for Mentoring:

72 E. Concord St
Boston MA 02118
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