Original Discovery:

Kedersha, N. L., & Rome, L. H. (1986). Isolation and characterization of a novel ribonucleoprotein particle: large structures contain a small RNA and a major polypeptide of 104 kDa. The Journal of Cell Biology, 103(3), 699–709.

This paper introduced vaults to the scientific community.

Structure & Composition:

Anderson, D. H., et al. (2007). Three-dimensional structure of eukaryotic vaults. Nature, 386, 836-838.

Details on the unique barrel-like structure of vaults.

Potential Functions & Medical Relevance:

Steiner, E., et al. (2006). Major vault protein is a novel substrate of JNK and involved in multidrug resistance. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 281(28), 19332-19339.

Connects vaults to drug resistance in cancer therapy.

Berger, W., et al. (2009). Vaults and the major vault protein: novel roles in signal pathway regulation and immunity. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 66(1), 43–61.

Discusses vaults in immune function and cellular signaling.

These should provide a solid foundation if your contacts want to dig deeper! If they need a more general summary, they can also check NCBI, ScienceDirect, or Nature Reviews for articles on vault proteins.