Laura Baranello

Laura Baranello

Principal Researcher
Telephone: +46852487337
Visiting address: Solnavägen 9, 17165 Stockholm
Postal address: C5 Cell- och molekylärbiologi, C5 CMB Baranello, 171 77 Stockholm
Part of:

About me

  • Chromatin Biology, Topoisomerases and Cancer
    I received my PhD from the University of Bologna, Italy. During my PhD training with Prof. Capranico, I became fascinated by the mechanism of topoisomerases in regulating the topology of DNA during transcription and replication, a truly fundamental processes in life.

    As a postdoctoral fellow, I joined the laboratory of Dr. Levens at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). During my postdoctoral training I developed a variety of new protocols for next generation sequencing that opened new horizons for the study of DNA topology. Specifically, I discovered a new mechanism that synchronizes the activity of topoisomerase 1 with the state of RNA polymerase.

    In 2016, I became Assistant Professor–Group Leader and Wallenberg Academy Fellow at Karolinska Institutet, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Stockholm  (Sweden). My research program aims to define the still unknown mechanisms of  topoisomerase regulation that sustain the proliferation of cancer cells. My long-term goal is to target the regulation of topoisomerases to halt cancer  progression.

    2021 Cancerfonden-Project Grant
    2021 Vetenskapsrådet-Project Grant (MH)
    2020 EMBO
    2019 NBIS
    2018 Cancerfonden-Project Grant
    2018 KID Funding
    2018 KI Fonder
    2016 Wallenberg Academy Fellow in Medicine
    2016 KI Faculty Funded Position as Assistant Professor
    2016 Vetenskapsrådet-Starting Grant (MH)
    2016 VINNOVA Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship
    2012 FARE (Fellows Award for Research Excellence), NIH (USA)
    2010–2017 Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Levens, National Institutes of Health (NIH, USA)
    2007–2010 PhD in Cellular, Molecular and Industrial Biology, with Prof. Capranico, University of Bologna (Italy)

Research

  • Mechanism and targeting of topoisomerase regulation

    Cancer is a biologically complex disease that causes significant deaths in the human population. Pharmaceuticals that inhibit enzymes called topoisomerases are effective at killing many types of cancer cells. Unfortunately, the body’s healthy cells are also damaged by this treatment.

    Development of tumor-specific topoisomerase inhibitor-based therapies will require better knowledge of the mechanism of topoisomerase activity. 

    Topoisomerases are important cellular enzymes; they are involved in processes in which genes are copied, or when DNA is replicated prior to cell division. They unwind the DNA double helix, so that the enzymes that are going to transcribe genes or replicate DNA strands are able to do so. Although conventionally considered to be constitutively active enzymes, recent evidence show that topoisomerases execute their function through regulatory  interactions with partner proteins that modulate their activity to affect the transcriptional outcome. Understanding the mechanism of this regulation might provide a new strategy to affect topoisomerase activity in cancer cells.

    Our ongoing and future investigations are based on these findings. We use a variety of approaches including biochemical assays, next-generation sequencing techniques, genome editing and drug screens to:

    • Identify new proteins regulating topoisomerase 1 and topoisomerase 2 activity. Among the potential partners we focus on transcription and chromatin factors.
    • Understand the molecular details of how topoisomerases are regulated by  their protein partners during transcription.
    • Identify drugs targeting the stimulation of topoisomerase activity in  cancer cells.

    Conference organiser

Teaching

  • Medical Program courses
    "The healthy human"

    PhD courses
    "The epigenome: a platform for the integration of metabolic and signaling pathways in development and on the path to diseases" 

    "Cell cycle, cancer and anti-cancer targets"

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2025 - 31 December 2029
    Inhibitors of Topoisomerases (TOPs, TOP1, TOP2) are mainstays of anticancer therapy. While they have proven effective, the toxicity of current TOP drugs in non-cancer cells, limits their use. Development of tumour-specific TOP inhibitors will require a better knowledge of TOPs. This project will define how TOP are regulated and target these regulatory mechanisms with drugs. TOPs promote transcription and replication by cleaving/resealing DNA strands, removing supercoils generated during polymerase elongation. In my works published in Cell and Mol Cell, I discovered that the activity of TOPs is regulated. The oncoprotein MYC joins TOP1 and TOP2 in a topoisome complex and stimulates their activities to boost cell proliferation. Targeting the mechanism of the topoisome instead of the single TOPs might selectively halt MYC while preserving physiological TOP activity, avoiding DNA damage associated to current TOP drugs.By using genomics, biochemical and microscopy approaches, as well as drug screens, I will define the mechanism of MYC-driven cellular proliferation via regulation of the topoisome and develop drugs blocking the topoisome to arrest tumor growth. This project is feasible based on compelling preliminary data and collaborations. The work will identify novel drugs to target TOPs that can be put forward in clinical trials for the benefit of the society. This new way of targeting TOPs to affect MYC is a beyond the state-of-the-art approach to the field of cancer biology.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2027
    Inhibitors of DNA topoisomerases (TOPs, TOP1 and TOP2) are mainstays of anticancer therapy. While they have proven effective, the toxicity of current TOP drugs in non-cancer cells, limits their use. Development of tumour-specific TOP inhibitors will require a better knowledge of the mechanisms of TOP. This proposal will define how TOP are regulated and will target these regulatory mechanisms with drugs.My works published in Cell and Molecular Cell have shown that the DNA cleavage-religation activity of TOPs is regulated. The oncoprotein MYC joins TOP1 and TOP2 in a “topoisome” complex and stimulates their activities to remove the supercoiling produced during transcription and replication, thus boosting cellular proliferation. Therefore, targeting the mechanism of the topoisome instead of the single TOPs, will selectively halt MYC oncogenic function while preserving physiological TOP activity, avoiding the generation of DNA damage associated to current TOP drugs.By using new genomic tools to study TOPs, biochemical and microscopy approaches, as well as drug screens, I will define the mechanism of MYC-driven transcriptional amplification via topoisome assembly and develop drugs blocking topoisome activity to arrest tumour growth. This proposal is highly feasible based on my background, compelling preliminary data, and strong collaborations with KI and NIH. My work will identify novel ways to target TOPs that can be put forward in clinical trials for the benefit of society.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2022 - 31 December 2024
  • Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2022
    Cancer is a biologically complex disease and is today one of the most common causes of death. Blocking topoisomerase enzymes (TOP1 and TOP2) is one of the cornerstones of today's cancer treatment, and is used against several common tumor types, such as breast, colon, lung, and ovarian cancer. Despite their good anticancer effect, the use of today's topoisomerase-inhibiting drugs is limited by their toxic effect on healthy cells. Developing new -topoisomerase inhibitors that only inhibit tumor cells is therefore of great importance, but to achieve this goal, in-depth knowledge of the mechanisms that regulate the cellular activity of topoisomerases is required. This project aims to define the molecular mechanisms that regulate the role of topoisomerases in RNA transcription. In my work, published in the prestigious journal Cell, I show that TOP1 is controlled by other enzymes and is not constantly active as previously thought. In my recent work, which is under review in Cell, I show that the oncoprotein MYC interacts with topoisomerases and stimulates their activity to promote rapid cellular growth. Our findings make the MYC/TOP system an attractive candidate for the development of drugs that target the activation of topoisomerases in the treatment of MYC-driving tumors. Using biochemical analysis, sequencing methods and drug screening, I will characterize how MYC regulates topoisomerases and identify drugs that target the MYC/TOP interaction. In fact, I have already developed a drug cocktail that has high anticancer potential but reduced toxicity. I now want to test this cocktail in preclinical models of colon and pancreatic cancer. The work will lead to the identification of a new strategy for gentler cancer treatments that can be tested in future clinical trials to improve both survival and quality of life in cancer patients.
  • Functional characterization of topoisomerase regulatory interactions, for targeted anticancer therapy
    Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2018
    Cancer is a biologically complex disease and one of the most common causes of death. Inhibition of the enzymes topoisomerase (TOP) TOP1 and TOP2 are one of the cornerstones of today's cancer treatment, and are used against several common tumor diseases in both men and women, such as breast, colon, lung, ovarian cancer. Despite their good anticancer effect, the use of current TOP inhibitory drugs is limited by their toxic effect on healthy cells. Developing new TOP inhibitors that only inhibit tumor cells is therefore of great importance, but in order to achieve this goal, in-depth knowledge of the mechanisms regulating the cellular activity of the topoisomerases is required. This project aims to map the molecular mechanisms that control the role of TOP enzymes in gene regulation and, based on this, find new targets to fight for specifically killing cancer cells. In my latest publication in the well-reputed Cell, I present the groundbreaking discovery that the TOP activity is stimulated by the enzyme RNA polymerase II. Because rapidly dividing cancer cells require higher gene expression than normal cells, they are also expected to require higher TOP activity. My hypothesis is therefore that specific inhibition of growing cancer cells can be achieved by blocking the proteins that stimulate TOP over its basic level of activity. By using biochemical and sequencing methods and screening of drug candidates, in this project I will identify new proteins that regulate TOP and the mechanisms for how they regulate TOP. Furthermore, based on these discoveries, I will explore new potential drugs that specifically target the proteins that regulate TOP. The work will lead to the identification of new cancer drugs that can be evaluated in future clinical trials to directly improve the survival and quality of life of cancer patients.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2017 - 31 December 2020
  • VINNOVA
    1 August 2016 - 30 December 2019

News from KI

Events from KI