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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.

The molecular basis behind transposition

Research from Ian Taylor’s lab has investigated the molecular basis of Ty1 transposition, which is regulated by copy number control. Their work presents the structural, biophysical and genetic analyses of p18m, a key protein that directs copy number control through disruption of Ty1 virus-like particle assembly.

Structure of a Ty1 restriction factor reveals the molecular basis of transposition copy number control

Published in Nature Communications

Published

Phospho-dependent regulation of SAMHD1 oligomerisation couples catalysis and restriction

This study explained the mechanism of SAMHD1 regulation by phosphorylation/tetramerisation and correlated restriction activity with the capacity of SAMHD1 to form long lived, stable tetramers. These data form the basis of the prevailing model for SAMHD1 restriction of HIV-1 where dNTP-stabilised SAMHD1 tetramers deplete and maintain low levels of dNTPs in the non-permissive cells resistant to HIV-1 infection.

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Published in PLOS Pathogens

Published

Heatmap showing expression of melanoma-specific transcripts across a range of cancer types. The three columns with high expression are from melanoma samples.

LTR retroelement expansion of the human cancer transcriptome and immunopeptidome revealed by de novo transcript assembly

We assembled and disseminated the most complete, to date, transcriptome with a focus on transcripts initiated by or overlapping with endogenous retroelements. This assembly doubles the number of known transcripts and forms the basis for in-depth analysis of retroelement studies in health and disease, particularly in cancer. It also provided unconventional targets for novel cancer vaccines that are being developed by Enara Bio.

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Published in Genome Research

Published

Structural basis for Fullerene geometry in a human endogenous retrovirus capsid

Here we determined the structure by single particle cryo-EM of capsid assembly in an endogenous retrovirus. This is the first atomic resolution structure of a closed capsid shell, which in retroviruses packages and protects the genome. By studying 4 different types of symmetric assemblies, we discovered how the underlying Fullerene geometry is achieved by the CA protein forming both pentamers and hexamers and found structural rules by which invariant pentamers and structurally plastic hexamers associate to form the unique polyhedral structures.

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Published in Nature Communications

Published

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Research case studies 

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