Susan Gottesman

Susan Gottesman is microbiologist at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which is part of the National Institutes of Health.[1] She is a pioneer in the area of biological regulation in which enzymes that destroy specific other proteins, called proteases, play a central role inside the cell. She discovered and elucidated the central features of a new family of proteases that require energy for their function in the form of ATP-hydrolysis.[2][3] She has also played a major role in the discovery and characterization of bacterial small RNAs.[4]

Susan Gottesman
Born (1945-05-19) May 19, 1945
New York, New York
Alma mater
Known for
  • Bacterial small RNAs
  • Proteases and their function in ATP-hydrolysis.
  • Discovered central features of new family of proteases requiring energy for their function in the form of ATP-hydrolysis.
Scientific career
Fields
  • Genetics
  • Microbial biology
Institutions
Thesis (1972)

Early life and education

Gottesman was born on May 19, 1945, in New York. Her father was trained as an accountant and ran a company that made rotisseries and other small appliances. Her mother was a high school teacher and later became a guidance counselor.[3]

In fifth or sixth grade, Gottesman was given a book titled Microbe Hunters.[5] This book inspired her scientific career as she became fascinated with the importance and puzzling nature of scientific research.[5]

She continued her curiosity in science by attending a summer program in high school. It was a research opportunity held at Waldemar in Long Island, New York.[6] Gottesman attributed this opportunity to the emphasis on science and technology during the Cold War.[6] This experience helped fuel her passion for science, as she was introduced to genetics, DNA, cancer, and bacteria.[6]

Gottesman received a B.A. in biochemical sciences in 1967 from Radcliffe College and a Ph.D. in microbiology from Harvard University in 1972.[1][7] She did her postdoctoral training from 1971 to 1974 in NCI's Laboratory of Molecular Biology.[7] From 1974 to 1976, she was a research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before returning as a senior investigator to NCI's Laboratory of Molecular Biology.[1] She is co-chief of that Laboratory and head of its Biochemical Genetics Section.[8]

Scientific contributions

Gottesman was a graduate student at Harvard in the 1960s and worked with Jon Beckwith.[4] Their worked involved studying the lac operon to further understand the E. coli arabinose operon.[4] From their research, they were able to show that a transducing bacteriophage could work for the arabinose operon. Previous studies had only shown success in the lac operon, but the lambda phage was successful for the arabinose operon in her testing.[4] Gottesman's later research at the National Institutes of Health used this lambda phage to understand how bacteriophages are able to insert themselves into a bacterial chromosome and then subsequently remove themselves.[4]

Susan Gottesman is known for her work with small RNAs and ATP-dependent proteases.[4] Her work in these subjects has been celebrated by scientists such as Princeton University professor Thomas Silhavy and former Princeton professor David Botstein.[4] Gottesman focused her research on E. coli cells and the process of gene regulation.[1] She began studying the mechanism for energy-dependent proteolysis, but stumbled upon small RNAs in the process.[1] Small RNA are short RNA sequences that have a wide variety of functions within cells.[9] They have been shown to be vital in cell processes such as growth, cell differentiation, and defense. The small RNAs have also been shown to be a factor in certain diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and liver disease.[9]

The ATP-dependent proteases are shown to maintain the level of regulatory proteins and to get rid of any misfolded or damaged proteins.[2] They bind to their specific substrates by sequence recognition or by chemical and conformation interactions.[2]

In Gottesman's studies, she showed that the ATP-dependent proteases are regulated by the delivery of their substrate molecules by anti-adaptor and adaptor protein.[10] This finding has been shown of specific importance in the study of bacterial general stress response.[10] Along with the ATP-dependent proteases, the small RNA molecules are an important part of this response.[10]

For example, one of these small RNAs in Gottesman's research was found to positively regulate the translation of RpoS, a stress sigma factor of E. coli.[1] The DsrA small RNA helps to translate the RpoS factor by binding to the RpoS leader sequence.[1]

Awards and honors

Selected publications

References
  1. "Susan Gottesman, Ph.D." Center for Cancer Research. August 12, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  2. Koodathingal, Prakash; Jaffe, Neil E.; Kraut, Daniel A.; Prakash, Sumit; Fishbain, Susan; Herman, Christophe; Matouschek, Andreas (July 10, 2009). "ATP-dependent proteases differ substantially in their ability to unfold globular proteins". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 284 (28): 18674–18684. doi:10.1074/jbc.M900783200. ISSN 0021-9258. PMC 2707231. PMID 19383601.
  3. Gottesman, Susan; Gant, Jason (October 1, 2008). "NCI Laboratory of Molecular Biology Oral History Project" (PDF).
  4. "Prokaryotic Pioneer". The Scientist Magazine®. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  5. "Annual Reviews". www.annualreviews.org. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  6. Vanderpool, Carin K. (May 1, 2018). "Susan Gottesman: An Exceptional Scientist and Mentor". Women in Microbiology: 137–145. doi:10.1128/9781555819545.ch16. ISBN 9781555819538.
  7. "Boston Bacterial Meeting". bostonbacterial.org. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  8. Gottesman, Susan. "Susan Gottesman, Ph.D."
  9. Zhang, Chunxiang (December 2009). "Novel functions for small RNA molecules". Current Opinion in Molecular Therapeutics. 11 (6): 641–651. ISSN 1464-8431. PMC 3593927. PMID 20072941.
  10. "Susan Gottesman, PhD | The Vallee Foundation". www.thevalleefoundation.org. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  11. National Academy of Sciences. "Susan Gottesman". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  12. American Academy of Arts & Sciences. "Dr. Susan Gottesman". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  13. American Society for Microbiology (2009). "American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) 2009 Election Results". Microbe News (April). Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  14. American Society for Microbiology (2011). "ASM News, 2011 General Meeting Awards". Microbe Magazine (April). Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  15. National Academy of Sciences. "Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology". National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  16. "Herbert Tabor Research Award". www.asbmb.org. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  17. "6th Molecular Microbiology Meeting - Newcastle University". conferences.ncl.ac.uk. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  18. "Four new VVPs appointed | The Vallee Foundation". www.thevalleefoundation.org. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
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