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On our #MitoMonday weekly series, we have highlighted many scientists who made discoveries by standing on the shoulders of the giants that came before them. Tonight we briefly highlight one such giant; Dr. Karlene Corbit Klages Gunter. #MitoCal #MitoMn #LateNightWithTheRutterLab
Dr. Gunter was born on August 14, 1939 in Pittsburgh, PA. She obtained her degree in Physics from @MIT at a time when few women did. She married Thomas Gunter and earned her PhD @UCBerkeley in 1968 in Frank Asaro's lab. https://bit.ly/3e2VL1J https://bit.ly/3aSn5y2 2/
She then moved to the Dept of Biochemistry and Biophysics @UofR where she would remain for the rest of her career. There she and her husband Thomas, would use their background in Physics to tackle many biological questions. 3/
One of which was determining how ATP production is controlled in cells. This was thought to be determined by the rate at which ADP and phosphate (Pi) diffuse back to mitochondria. However, NMR studies identified conditions where ADP & Pi remained constant while ATP increased. 4/
This strongly suggested that the cell used an alternative factor as the primary metabolic mediator. Mitochondrial Calcium transport was described in the early 60s, however, the role it played within the mitochondria was largely unknown. 5/
To determine if Ca+ could be the elusive alternative factor, Dr. Gunter worked to determine if Ca+ could be sequestered by mitochondria under physiological conditions. Along with her husband, Dr. Gunter built a device capable of generating physiological Ca2+ pulses. 6/
Using this device they discovered Rapid Mode (RaM) entry of Ca+ into the mitos of liver & heart tissue. They would also go on to define a number of important properties of the MCU. Basically, Dr. Gunter studied mito Ca+ uptake before it was cool. https://bit.ly/3dYhTdH 7/
Interesting Fact: The Gunters have a number of excellent articles on #MitoCalcium including what was the most highly cited review until @VamsiMootha and Rosario Rizzuto cloned the uniporter a few eyes ago. https://bit.ly/2XeUTkN https://bit.ly/3dVlYzv https://bit.ly/2JMyROw 8/
Dr. Gunter went on to show that this same uptake mechanism is important for manganese & helped establish mito damage as a cause of Mn toxicity by using XANES spectroscopy @BrookhavenLab, which measures ionic states of ions in the mitos of cells. https://bit.ly/3bRjFeO 9/
Dr. Gunter retired at the age of 75, her work led to treatments of metabolic diseases, improved our understanding of the aging process & deepened our understanding of Parkinson’s disease. Tragically she died suddenly and unexpectedly January 17 2020 at the age of 80. 10/
“[Karlene] was good at all lab techniques, but she was the best at pulling reliable data out of the noise using rigorous mathematical analysis. She was expert at using double and triple radioactive labels..." 11/
"...Her talents with curve fitting and analysis of data allowed us to develop techniques for optimizing the sensitivity of data using fluorescent dyes with mitochondria and also the sensitivity of XANES spectroscopy” Thomas Edgar Gunter, PhD. 12/
We’d like to thank @PSBROOKES for facilitating and helping us make this small tribute to Dr. Gunter's work, we would also like to thank Dr. Tom Gunter for generously providing us with photos and information to include in this thread. 13/
If you enjoyed this thread please check some of our previous #MitoMonday content such as: https://twitter.com/RutterLab/status/1097808870225829889?s=20
#LateNightWithTheRutterLab 14/14
#LateNightWithTheRutterLab 14/14
