Renal Function & Transport Physiology

BIOGRAPHY

David B Mount MD

Academic positions:
- Staff Physician, Division of General Internal Medicine, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA
- Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
- Renal Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
- Membrane Biology Program, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston MA

Any industry positions (last five years):
None declared

Research interests:
Dr Mount is interested in the molecular physiology of ion and solute transport, and has exploited genomic and cDNA databases to identify novel members of four transporter gene families. His laboratory has thus cloned several new members of the cation-chloride cotransporter gene family, most notably the K-Cl cotransporters KCC3 and KCC4. They recently characterized five new members of the SLC26 gene family, including SLC26A6, a multifunctional transporter that is the dominant apical chloride-formate/oxalate exchanger in the renal proximal tubule. SLC26A6 and other paralogs function as CFTR-dependent chloride-bicarbonate exchanger(s), and as such play significant roles in cystic fibrosis. Apical chloride-formate/base/oxalate exchange mediated by SLC26A6 and basolateral K-Cl cotransport mediated by KCC3 and KCC4 play crucial roles in trans-epithelial salt transport by the renal proximal tubule, with implications for both essential hypertension and edema syndromes. Neuronal K-Cl cotransport mediated by KCC2 is a major determinant of neuronal excitability, with evolving roles for this transporter in epilepsy, neuronal injury, and neuropathic pain. They recently identified a novel cytoplasmic domain that confers constitutive transport on KCC2; the other three KCCs are exclusively swelling-activated. Other gene families of interest include the sodium-solute (SLC5) and organic anion (SLC22) transporters, particularly novel family members with a potential or proven role in renal urate absorption. Specifically, they have identified the renal sodium-lactate/nicotinate cotransporters that collaborate with SLC22A12 (URAT1) in renal urate absorption.

Any other information:
Awards & Honors
- NSERC of Canada Undergraduate Research Scholarships
- Samuel J. Streight Scholarship in Internal Medicine, University of Toronto, Merril
- Pharmaceutical Award, University of Toronto
- Sopman Award, Department of Medicine, Toronto General Hospital
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Medical Research Council of Canada/CIHR (declined)
- NIH Physician Scientist Award, K11-DK02328-05; NIH National Research Service
- Top Twelve Basic Research Citations: J. Biol. Chem. 1999: 274, 16355; Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- Advanced Research Career Development Award, Veterans Administration
- Top Twelve Basic Research Citations: Nature Genetics, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Ad hoc reviewer for Am. J. Physiol, Renal, Am. J. Physiol, Cell, Biochimica Biophysica Acta, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci, USA, Kidney International, Genomics, Physiological Genomics, J. Am. Soc. Nephrol

Editorial Board of Am. J. Physiol and Renal Physiol
Section Editor, Current Opinion in Nephrology and Hypertension, 2002-present
Co-editor, "Molecular and Genetics of Renal Disease", W.B. Saunders & Company, 2006