• Department of Pathology
  • Pathology Staff
• Department of Laboratory Medicine
  • Laboratory Medicine Staff
• Affiliated Hospitals
  • Moffitt-Long
  • Mount Zion Medical Center
  • San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center
  • San Francisco General
• Faculty
  • Pathology
  • Laboratory Medicine

Research and Clinical Interests

My laboratory is interested in understanding how pro-death BCL-2 family members trigger apoptosis in response to cell injury, in particular under conditions of ER stress and protein misfolding. The early death signals downstream of ER stress represent promising therapeutic targets for a number of important human diseases, including Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain malignancies (such as multiple myeloma). Consequently, we are combining biochemical approaches and mouse models to:

1. Define the apoptotic pathway downstream of endoplasmic reticulum stress
2. Examine the role of apoptosis in disease models of protein misfolding

Selected Publications

• Scorrano, L.*, Oakes, S.A *, Opferman, J.T., Cheng E.H., Sorcinelli, M.D., Pozzan, T., and Korsmeyer, S.J. 2003. BAX and BAK regulation of endoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+ : a control point for apoptosis. Science 300, 135-139. *These authors contributed equally.
• Oakes S.A . , Opferman J.T., Pozzan T., Korsmeyer, S.J., and Scorrano, L. 2003. Regulation of endoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+ dynamics by proapoptotic BCL-2 family members. Biochem Pharmacol. 66, 1335-1340.
• Bassik, M.C., Scorrano, L., Oakes , S.A. , Pozzan, T., and Korsmeyer, S.J. 2004. Phosphorylation of BCL-2 regulates ER Ca 2+ homeostasis and apoptosis. EMBO J . 23, 1207-1216.
• Oakes , S.A . , Scorrano, L., Opferman, J.T., Bassik, M.C., Nishino, M., Pozzan, T., and Korsmeyer, S.J. 2005. Proapoptotic BAX and BAK regulated IP3R-1 and calcium leak from the endoplasmic reticulum. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102, 105-110.
• Oakes, S.A., Lin, S.S., Bassik M, C. 2006. The control of endoplasmic reticulum-initiated apoptosis by the BCL-2 family of proteins. Curr Mol Med. 6(1):99-109.

Selected Awards

• 1995-1996 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Scholar
• 1998 American Endocrine Society Award
• 2000-2003 NIH Pathology Training Grant Recipient
• 2003-2008 NIH Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (K08)
• 2006-2007 Junior Investigator Award, American Cancer Society
• 2006-2009 Physician-Scientist Early Career Award, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

• Assistant Professor of Pathology
• Pathology
• Research and Autopsy

Specialty Area

Autopsy

Contact Information

• scott.oakes@ucsf.edu
• Phone: (415) 476-1777
• Pager: (415) 443-9454
• Fax: (415) 514-3165

• UCSF Department of Pathology
• 513 Parnassus Avenue
• Room HSW-517, Box 0511
• San Francisco, CA 94143-0511

Web Site

• http://www.ucsf.edu/oakeslab/

Other UCSF Organizational Association(s)

Member

• UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center

Hospital Affiliation(s)

• Moffitt-Long