Kirak, Oktay

Faculty Member Adjunct

Positions

2017 - 2018 Assistant Professor Adjunct, Immunology and Microbiology , Scripps Research
2016 - 2017 Assistant Professor Adjunct, Immunology and Microbial Science (IMS) , Scripps Research
2011 - 2016 Assistant Professor, Immunology and Microbial Science (IMS) , Scripps Research
2005 - 2010 Postdoctoral Associate, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research , Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Kirak lab is interested in the long-standing question why our immune system attacks benign cells in autoimmune diseases, such as type-I diabetes, but fails to eliminate malignant cells in cancer. Dr. Kirak has pioneered Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT or NT, also known as "cloning") to develop and study novel mouse models of our immune system. Using these novel and more physiological NT models, the goal of the Kirak lab is to better understand this question, to identify novel mechanisms underlying autoimmune diseases and cancer, and to develop new therapeutics.

Research Areas

Cancer (UMLS)
Nuclear Transfer (UMLS)
Somatic Cell (UMLS)
Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (aka Cloning)
autoimmune diabetes (UMLS)
stem cells (UMLS)
tumor immunology (UMLS)

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Publications
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recent publications

academic article
- Ku, M., Chang, S. E., Hernandez, J., Abadejos, J. R., Sabouri-Ghomi, M., Muenchmeier, N. J., Schwarz, A., Valencia, A. M., Kirak, O. Nuclear transfer nTreg model reveals fate-determining TCR-β and novel peripheral nTreg precursors Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2016 DOI:10.1073/pnas.1523664113 PMID:27044095 PMCID:PMC4843484
- Ku, M., Chang, S. E., Hernandez, J., Abadejos, J. R., Sabouri-Ghomi, M., Muenchmeier, N. J., Schwarz, A., Valencia, A. M., Kirak, O. Nuclear transfer nTreg model reveals fate-determining TCR-β and novel peripheral nTreg precursors Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2016 113:E2316-E2325 DOI:10.1073/pnas.1523664113 PMID:27044095 PMCID:PMC4843484
- Kirak, O., Riethmuller, G. A novel, nonanaphylactogenic, bispecific IgE-CD3 antibody eliminates IgE1(+) B cells Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2015 136:800-802 DOI:10.1016/j.jaci.2015.02.017 PMID:25825213
- Efeyan, A., Schweitzer, L. D., Bilate, A. M., Chang, S., Kirak, O., Lamming, D. W., Sabatini, D. M. RagA, but not RagB, is essential for embryonic development and adult mice Developmental Cell 2014 29:321-329 DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2014.03.017 PMID:24768164 PMCID:PMC4035553
- Sehrawat, S., Koenig, P. A., Kirak, O., Schlieker, C., Fankhauser, M., Ploegh, H. L. A catalytically inactive mutant of the deubiquitylase YOD-1 enhances antigen cross-presentation Blood 2013 121:1145-1156 DOI:10.1182/blood-2012-08-447409 PMID:23243279 PMCID:PMC3575758
- Avalos, A. M., Kirak, O., Oelkers, J. M., Pils, M. C., Kim, Y. M., Ottinger, M., Jaenisch, R., Ploegh, H. L., Brinkmann, M. M. Cell-specific TLR9 trafficking in primary APCs of transgenic TLR9-GFP mice Journal of Immunology 2013 190:695-702 DOI:10.4049/jimmunol.1202342 PMID:23241879 PMCID:PMC3539690
- Efeyan, A., Zoncu, R., Chang, S., Gumper, I., Snitkin, H., Wolfson, R. L., Kirak, O., Sabatini, D. D., Sabatini, D. M. Regulation of mTORC1 by the Rag GTPases is necessary for neonatal autophagy and survival Nature 2013 493:679-683 DOI:10.1038/nature11745 PMID:23263183 PMCID:PMC4000705
- Sehrawat, S., Kirak, O., Koenig, P. A., Isaacson, M. K., Marques, S., Bozkurt, G., Simas, J. P., Jaenisch, R., Ploegh, H. L. CD8(+) T cells from mice transnuclear for a TCR that recognizes a single H-2K(b)-restricted MHV68 epitope derived from gB-ORF8 help control infection Cell Reports 2012 1:461-471 DOI:10.1016/j.celrep.2012.03.009 PMID:22832272 PMCID:PMC3406328
- Zheng, G. X. Y., Ravi, A., Calabrese, J. M., Medeiros, L. A., Kirak, O., Dennis, L. M., Jaenisch, R., Burge, C. B., Sharp, P. A. A latent pro-survival function for the mir-290-295 cluster in mouse embryonic stem cells PLoS Genetics 2011 7:e1002054 DOI:10.1371/journal.pgen.1002054 PMID:21573140 PMCID:PMC3088722
- Ernst, R., Claessen, J. H. L., Mueller, B., Sanyal, S., Spooner, E., van der Veen, A. G., Kirak, O., Schlieker, C. D., Weihofen, W. A., Ploegh, H. L. Enzymatic blockade of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway PLoS Biology 2011 9:e1000605 DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000605 PMID:21468303 PMCID:PMC3066133
- Medeiros, L. A., Dennis, L. M., Gill, M. E., Houbaviy, H., Markoulaki, S., Fu, D. D., White, A. C., Kirak, O., Sharp, P. A., Page, D. C., Jaenisch, R. Mir-290-295 deficiency in mice results in partially penetrant embryonic lethality and germ cell defects Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2011 108:14163-14168 DOI:10.1073/pnas.1111241108 PMID:21844366 PMCID:PMC3161528
- Kim, J., Lengner, C. J., Kirak, O., Hanna, J., Cassady, J. P., Lodato, M. A., Wu, S., Faddah, D. A., Steine, E. J., Gao, Q., Fu, D. D., Dawlaty, M., et al. Reprogramming of postnatal neurons into induced pluripotent stem cells by defined factors Stem Cells 2011 29:992-1000 DOI:10.1002/stem.641 PMID:21563275 PMCID:PMC3409465
- McGehee, A. M., Strijbis, K., Guillen, E., Eng, T., Kirak, O., Ploegh, H. L. Ubiquitin-dependent control of class II MHC localization is dispensable for antigen presentation and antibody production PLoS One 2011 6:e18817 DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0018817 PMID:21533087 PMCID:PMC3080378
- Schlegelmilch, K., Mohseni, M., Kirak, O., Pruszak, J., Rodriguez, J. R., Zhou, D. W., Kreger, B. T., Vasioukhin, V., Avruch, J., Brummelkamp, T. R., Camargo, F. D. Yap1 acts downstream of α-catenin to control epidermal proliferation Cell 2011 144:782-795 DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2011.02.031 PMID:21376238 PMCID:PMC3237196
- Kirak, O., Frickel, E. M., Grotenbreg, G. M., Suh, H., Jaenisch, R., Ploegh, H. L. Transnuclear mice with pre-defined T cell receptor specificities against Toxoplasma gondii obtained via SCNT Journal of Visualized Experiments : JoVE 2010 DOI:10.3791/2168 PMID:20972401 PMCID:PMC3157875
- Kirak, O., Frickel, E. M., Grotenbreg, G. M., Suh, H., Jaenisch, R., Ploegh, H. L. Transnuclear mice with predefined T cell receptor specificities against Toxoplasma gondii obtained via SCNT Science 2010 328:243-248 DOI:10.1126/science.1178590 PMID:20378817 PMCID:PMC2940321
- Skelley, A. M., Kirak, O., Suh, H., Jaenisch, R., Voldman, J. Microfluidic control of cell pairing and fusion Nature Methods 2009 6:147-152 DOI:10.1038/nmeth.1290 PMID:19122668 PMCID:PMC3251011
- Huynh, H. D., Iizuka, S., Kaba, M., Kirak, O., Zheng, J., Lodish, H. F., Zhang, C. C. Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 2 secreted by a tumorigenic cell line supports ex vivo expansion of mouse hematopoietic stem cells Stem Cells 2008 26:1628-1635 DOI:10.1634/stemcells.2008-0064 PMID:18369099 PMCID:PMC2678056
- Johnnidis, J. B., Harris, M. H., Wheeler, R. T., Stehling-Sun, S., Lam, M. H., Kirak, O., Brummelkamp, T. R., Fleming, M. D., Camargo, F. D. Regulation of progenitor cell proliferation and granulocyte function by microRNA-223 Nature 2008 451:1125-1129 DOI:10.1038/nature06607 PMID:18278031
- Kim, K., Ng, K., Rugg-Gunn, P. J., Shieh, J. H., Kirak, O., Jaenisch, R., Wakayama, T., Moore, M. A., Pedersen, R. A., Daley, G. Q. Recombination signatures distinguish embryonic stem cells derived by parthenogenesis and somatic cell nuclear transfer Cell Stem Cell 2007 1:346-352 DOI:10.1016/j.stem.2007.07.001 PMID:18371368
thesis
- Eliminierung IgE-positiver B-Lymphozyten mit Hilfe eines rekombinanten bispezifischen Anti-IgE-, Anti-CD3-Antikörpers [Elimination of IgE positive B cells using a recombinant bispecific anti-IgE, anti-CD3 antibody] 2010