Laura Baranello
Principal Researcher
E-mail: laura.baranello@ki.se
Telephone: +46852487337
Visiting address: Solnavägen 9, 17165 Stockholm
Postal address: C5 Cell- och molekylärbiologi, C5 CMB Baranello, 171 77 Stockholm
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
the Karolinska Institute, 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*
EMBO workshop “DNA Topology in genomic transactions”
[1]
Cell and Molecular Biology seminar series
[1]
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" - jsessionid=a508b4a11f840c784347074883e5
[1]
"Cell cycle, cancer and anti-cancer
targets" - jsessionid=3028485594cd40c9bb38f4515a0e
[2]
[1] - jsessionid=a508b4a11f840c784347074883e5
[2] - jsessionid=3028485594cd40c9bb38f4515a0e
Articles
- Article: SCIENCE ADVANCES. 2023;9(41):eadg5109
- Article: SCIENCE ADVANCES. 2023;9(30):eadg1805
- Article: SCIENCE ADVANCES. 2022;8(49):eabq0648
- Article: STAR PROTOCOLS. 2022;3(3):101581
- Article: CANCER RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS. 2022;2(3):182-201
- Article: MOLECULAR CELL. 2022;82(1):140-158.e12
- Article: MOLECULAR CELL. 2021;81(24):5007-5024.e9
- Article: PLOS PATHOGENS. 2021;17(9):e1009954
- Article: PLOS GENETICS. 2021;17(9):e1009763
- Article: LIFE SCIENCE ALLIANCE. 2021;4(3):e202000980
- Article: METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. 2021;2318:161-185
- Article: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 2020;117(24):13457-13467
- Article: MOLECULAR CELL. 2019;75(2):267-283.e12
- Article: CELL. 2018;173(5):1165-1178.e20
- Article: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES. 2018;19(3):E884-884
- Article: METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. 2018;1672:155-166
- Article: METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. 2018;1703:95-108
- Article: MOLECULAR CELL. 2017;67(6):1013-1025.e9
- Article: MOLECULAR CELL. 2017;67(4):566-578.e10
- Article: CELL SYSTEMS. 2017;4(3):344-356.e7
- Journal article: BIOPHYSICAL REVIEWS. 2016;8(3):259-268
- Article: CHROMOSOME RESEARCH. 2016;24(2):175-181
- Article: CELL. 2016;165(2):357-371
- Article: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN GENETICS. 2016;98(4):627-642
- Article: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES. 2014;15(7):13111-13122
- Article: NUCLEUS. 2014;5(3):195-202
- Article: NATURE STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. 2013;20(3):396-403
- Article: NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH (NAR). 2010;38(1):159-171
- Article: BIOCHIMIE. 2007;89(4):482-489
- Show more
All other publications
- Conference publication: BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL. 2018;114(3):13A
- Book chapter: NUCLEAR ARCHITECTURE AND DYNAMICS. 2018;p. 81-99
- Preprint: BIORXIV. 2017
- Review: BIOPHYSICAL REVIEWS. 2016;8(Suppl 1):23-32
- Editorial comment: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 2014;111(3):889-890
- Review: TRANSCRIPTION. 2013;4(5):232-237
- Review: BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOPHYSICS. 2012;1819(7):632-638
- Book chapter: DNA TOPOISOMERASES AND CANCER: CANCER DRUG DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT. 2012;p. 309-324
- Review: BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOPHYSICS. 2010;1806(2):240-250