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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.

Epithelial cell barrier

The weakest link: how cells use electricity to eliminate their neighbours to maintain healthy barriers

If a tightly packed layer of epithelial cells gets overcrowded, excess cells are extruded, causing them to die. To find out how the body decides which cells are extruded, researchers at the Crick and King's College London set up live imaging of overcrowded epithelial cells under a microscope. They found that overcrowding triggers sodium channels on epithelial to open, bringing in salts and depolarising the cells. The strong ones can pump the sodium back out, repolarising themselves, but weak ones without energy can't, using a 'last gasp' of energy to activate a current that results in water rushing out of the cells, causing them to shrink and extrude.

Energy deficiency selects crowded live epithelial cells for extrusion

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Published in Nature

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Research case studies 

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