Aaron Proweller , MD, PhD

Assistant Director
Cardiovascular Research Institute
School of Medicine
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine
School of Medicine
Lawrence J. Kanter Professor of Cardiovascular Teaching, Care and Research
Case Western Reserve University

Research Information

Research Interests

I am a clinical cardiologist and basic scientist with a research interest in fundamental molecular mechanisms governing vascular wall homeostasis. My research program broadly aims to identify mechanisms through which Notch signaling in vascular smooth muscle influences key features of blood vessel competency including vascular patterning, angiogenesis, and vasoreactivity. The lab is responsible for generating and characterizing mouse models that recapitulate cerebral arterial patterning defects seen in humans with increased stroke risk and for identifying novel Notch-mediated mechanisms regulating arterial force production and blood pressure. The long-term research goal is to determine how cellular derangements from Notch dysfunction play important roles in adult vascular disease, including hypertension, stroke and hypoxia-induced angiogenesis.

External Appointments

Cardiology
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Senior Attending Physician
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine and University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute
Internal Medicine Residency Associate Program Director
CWRU/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Director
Harrington Physician Scientist Pathway, CWRU/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, providing research mentorship at individual and programmatic levels to both post-doctoral and physician trainees.

Publications

  1. Notch signaling regulates arterial vasoreactivity through opposing functions of Jagged1 and Dll4 in the vessel wall. Basu, S., Barbur, I., Calderon, A., Banerjee, S. and Proweller, A.  Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. 2018 Aug 31. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00293.2018.  PMID: 30168730
  2. Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear Translocator in vascular smooth muscle cells is required for optimal peripheral perfusion recovery Borton, A.H., Neilson, L.E., Benson, B.L., Saunders, A., Alaiti, M.A., Huang, A.Y., Jain, M.K., Proweller, A. and Ramirez-Bergeron, D. J. Am. Heart Assoc. Jun 1;7(11). pii: e009205; doi: 10.1161/JAHA.118.009205. PMID: 29858371.
  3. Best practices for physician-scientist training programs: recommendations from the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine. Blanchard, M., Burton, C., Geraci, M.W., Madaio, M.P., Marsh, J.D., Proweller, A, Rockey, D.C., Salata, R.A., Williams, C.S., Williams, J., Tan, W., Zaidi, M.,and Todd, R.F. 2018 Am. J.  Med., May;131(5):578-584; doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2018.01.015.  PMID: 29410155.
  4. Autoregulatory Control of Smooth Muscle Myosin Light Chain Kinase Promoter by Notch Signaling. Basu S, Proweller A. J Biol Chem. 2016 Feb 5;291(6) Epub 2015 Dec 24.PMID:26703474
  5. Endothelial Kruppel-like factor 4 regulates angiogenesis and the Notch signaling pathway. Hale AT, Tian H, Anih E, Recio FO 3rd, Shatat MA, Johnson T, Liao X, Ramirez-Bergeron DL, Proweller A, Ishikawa M, Hamik A.J Biol Chem. 2014 Apr 25;289(17):12016-28. Epub 2014 Mar 5.PMID:24599951
  6. Regulation of pre-natal circle of Willis assembly by vascular smooth muscle Notch signaling. Yang K, Banerjee S, Proweller A.Dev Biol. 2013 Sep 1;381(1):107-20. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2013.06.007. Epub 2013 Jun 14.PMID:23769842
  7. Notch transcriptional control of vascular smooth muscle regulatory gene expression and function. Basu S, Srinivasan DK, Yang K, Raina H, Banerjee S, Zhang R, Fisher SA, Proweller A.J Biol Chem. 2013 Apr 19;288(16):11191-202. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M112.442996. Epub 2013 Mar 12.PMID:23482558
  8. Inhibition of ARNT severely compromises endothelial cell viability and function in response to moderate hypoxia. Han Y, Yang K, Proweller A, Zhou G, Jain MK, Ramirez-Bergeron DL.Angiogenesis. 2012 Sep;15(3):409-20. doi: 10.1007/s10456-012-9269-x. Epub 2012 Apr 7.PMID:22484908
  9. Vascular smooth muscle Notch signals regulate endothelial cell sensitivity to angiogenic stimulation.Yang K, Proweller A.J Biol Chem. 2011 Apr 15;286(15):13741-53. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M110.181842. Epub 2011 Feb 23

 

Education

Bachelor of Arts
Biology
Oberlin College
1989
Master of Science
Microbiology-Immunology
University of Rochester
1992
Doctor of Philosophy
Microbiology-Immunology
University of Rochester
1996
Doctor of Medicine
University of Rochester
1998
Internal Medicine Residency
University of Chicago
2000
Fellowship
Cardiovascular Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
2002
Postdoctoral Fellowship
Research
University of Pennsylvania
2005