Publication highlights

Go inside our research

Explore a selection of research case studies from the past five years.

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Researchers at the Crick are tackling the big questions about human health and disease, and new findings are published every week.

Our faculty have picked some of the most significant papers published by Crick scientists, all of which are freely available thanks to our open science policy.

We are very interested in molecules called RNAs, which are produced when particular sections of DNA are ‘read’ and are thought to be involved in controlling gene activity and differentiation.

"Canary in a coal mine" for mitochondrial dysfunction

Mitochondria are the cell’s powerhouses and are essential for organismal health. When they malfunction, proteins meant to enter them can accumulate outside and act as distress signals, alerting the cell to potential damage. Researchers at the University of British Columbia, in collaboration with colleagues at the Crick, discovered that a small region of a mitochondrial protein plays a key role in activating a protective program that promotes mitochondrial recovery. Under normal conditions, this region enables the protein to enter mitochondria, but when blocked, it switches roles to signal stress. This finding reveals a natural “canary in a coal mine” for mitochondrial dysfunction and opens new possibilities for treating neurodegenerative and other mitochondria-related diseases.

A direct role for a mitochondrial targeting sequence in signalling stress

Published in Nature

Published

We are very interested in molecules called RNAs, which are produced when particular sections of DNA are ‘read’ and are thought to be involved in controlling gene activity and differentiation.

Process unveiled for meiosis in yeast during starvation

Starvation in yeast cells triggers a programme of cell differentiation into spores, which allows yeast to survive in harsh conditions. Researchers at the Crick, Imperial College London and North Carolina State University unveiled how the conserved GSK-3b kinase, Rim11, kicks off the activation of genes that initiate the cell fate programme called meiosis. They found that in nutrient-rich conditions, Rim11 is kept at low levels in the cytoplasm, but starvation-induced inhibition of two central signal pathways (TOR and PKA) leads to the amount of Rim11 increasing and entering the nucleus. Once Rim11 entered the nucleus, it then triggered the activity of two proteins which came together to activate the transcription of genes needed. This work highlights Rim11 as a central regulator of the processes needed to activate a critical cell decision-making process.

Multi-signal regulation of the GSK-3β homolog Rim11 controls meiosis entry in budding yeast

Published in The EMBO Journal

Published

Repression of divergent noncoding transcription by a sequence-specific transcription factor

Transcription factors typically activate transcription by recruiting cofactors, but our data in this paper illustrate a new function. We show that the sequence-specific transcription factor Rap1 prevents regulatory elements from initiating transcription in the divergent direction. We define a novel mechanism for providing directionality towards productive transcription, as Rap1 promotes directionality, at least in part, by directly interfering with transcription initiation in the divergent direction. Our study reveals a new important layer of regulation, describing how genomes restrict the accumulation of aberrant transcripts and ensure productive coding gene expression.

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Published in Molecular Cell

Published

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Accessing our research

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Research case studies 

Explore a selection of recent case studies that spotlight particular areas of research at the Crick.