Oakes Lab
Principal Investigator: Scott A. Oakes
Institution: University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
The exocrine (e.g., acinar cell) and endocrine (e.g., islet b-cell) compartments of the pancreas have long been considered functionally distinct. However, there is now overwhelming evidence for exocrine-endocrine crosstalk in the development, physiology, and dysfunction of the pancreas. For example, pancreas size (99% of which is exocrine tissue) is significantly reduced at type 1 diabetes (T1D) onset, in islet autoantibody-positive donors without diabetes, and in first degree relatives of T1D patients. Multiple T1D risk variants map to cis-regulatory elements for exocrine-specific digestive enzymes. These findings implicate the exocrine pancreas in T1D pathogenesis, but mechanisms remain unknown. In response to RFA-DK-23-007, our Team brings deep expertise in the biology, immunology and imaging of the exocrine/endocrine pancreas to unravel the molecular crosstalk among these cellular compartments in b-cell health and immunity. Our Team recently discovered that unregulated pancreatic elastase activity from acinar cells has detrimental effects on b-cell biology and immunity. Mechanistically, we have evidence that elevated pancreatic elastase proteolytically inactivates a cell surfac…
Active NIH Awards
- 4U01DK143494-02: Role of Pancreatic Elastase in Beta Cell Health, Autoimmunity and Type 1 Diabetes (2026)
- 5P30CA014599-50: Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer (2026)
- 1U01DK143494-01: Role of Pancreatic Elastase in Beta Cell Health, Autoimmunity and Type 1 Diabetes (2025)
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