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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.

Membrane width in s.japonicus and s.pombe

A two-way street: beneficial bacterial gene remodels yeast biology

Researchers have shown that the transfer of genes from bacteria into more complex organisms can give them an advantage but requires remodelling of the host’s biology. The lab explored the integration of a horizontally transferred gene coding for an enzyme called squalene-hopene cyclase (Shc1) from bacteria into S. japonicus yeast. They found that S. japonicus switches between using an enzyme that generates sterols in the presence of oxygen, Erg1, and the horizontally acquired Shc1 enzyme to produce hopanoids in conditions without oxygen. They showed that hopanoids are best accommodated in the membrane if it is made of asymmetrical lipids, so S. japonicus has adapted to produce two different lengths of fatty acids. The researchers concluded that the bacterial gene provided S. japonicus with an advantage against other yeast species, especially in high temperature and low oxygen environments.

Horizontal acquisition of prokaryotic hopanoid biosynthesis reorganizes membrane physiology driving lifestyle innovation in a eukaryote

Published in Nature Communications

Published

This image shows the envelope around the nucleus, which is continuous with the endoplasmic reticulum, is shown in green.

Small really is beautiful

Researchers from the Oliferenko lab have shown how cells avoid competition between metabolic tasks, by compartmentalising them in membrane-bound organelles called peroxisomes. Using yeast as a model system, they found that separating tasks into small peroxisome compartments helps cells grow efficiently, while making compartments too big causes problems, as the cell struggles to manage multiple tasks simultaneously. The study suggests that peroxisome size is crucial, impacting how well the cell functions. This information is valuable for understanding cell behaviour and could potentially be applied in biotechnology or medicine.

Peroxisomal compartmentalization of amino acid biosynthesis reactions imposes an upper limit on compartment size

Published in Nature Communications

Published

This image shows the envelope around the nucleus, which is continuous with the endoplasmic reticulum, is shown in green.

Optimising energy production without respiration in yeast

Establishing the rules of carbon metabolism, which produces biomass and energy, is critical for our understanding of life, from evolution to development to disease. Glycolysis is an ancient metabolic pathway which doesn't need oxygen - one molecule of glucose is used to produce two molecules of ATP, the “energy currency” of the cell, and two molecules of pyruvate, an intermediate molecule which can be metabolised further in respiration. Respiration is the most efficient way of generating ATP (overall producing up to 36 ATPs/glucose in mammals) and regenerating the electron carrier NAD+, which is required for growth. Most eukaryotes - like animals, fungi or plants -  live in environments with lots of oxygen, and respire. Yet, rapidly growing human cancer cells and single cell organisms, such as yeasts, often choose glycolysis over respiration, even when oxygen is available. We know little about the metabolic rewiring required to cope with the lack of respiration.

Here the researchers use an evolutionary cell biology approach in two related fission yeasts, one which acquires energy by respiration and one which doesn't, to find the critical points at which respiration feeds into central carbon metabolism. They show how both ATP production and NAD+ regeneration can be optimized to ensure rapid growth and discuss possible trade-offs of choosing between respiration and glycolysis.

Optimization of energy production and central carbon metabolism in a non-respiring eukaryote

Published in Current Biology

Published

Cellular geometry scaling ensures robust division site positioning

Here we describe our discovery that preservation of specific cellular geometry across a range of cell sizes is essential for correct division site positioning and survival, demonstrating the organismal-level function for scaling.

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Published in Nature Communications

Published

ESCRT-III/Vps4 controls heterochromatin-nuclear envelope attachments

Here we show that the inner nuclear membrane Lem2-Nur1 complex serves a substrate for the nuclear ESCRT-III/Vps4 machinery and explain how the dynamic tethering of chromosomes to this complex during interphase is linked to the establishment of nuclear compartmentalization following mitosis.

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Published in Developmental Cell

Published

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Research case studies 

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