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Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

 

Professor Tuomas Knowles

Professor of Physical Chemistry and Biophysics

1920 Professor of Physical Chemistry

Our research

We study the physical and chemical aspects of the behaviour of biopolymers and other soft systems. Much of our work has been focused on the physical aspects underlying the self-assembly of protein molecules. Self-organisation is the driving force generating complex matter in nature, and the process by which the machinery providing functionality in living systems is assembled. The goal of our research is to understand the physical and chemical factors which control the structures and dynamics of biomolecular assemblies, and the connections between the nanoscale characteristics of the component molecules and the physical properties of large-scale assemblies and their behaviour on a mesoscopic to macroscopic scale. The techniques used in our laboratory include biosensors, optical lithography, microfluidic devices and scanning probe microscopy and spectroscopy. We work both with natural and synthetic polymers and our interests range from fundamental chemical physics to technological applications in material science and molecular medicine.

Watch Professor Knowles discuss his research

Take a tour of the Sir Rodney Sweetnam laboratory

Publications

Direct, high-throughput linking of single cell imaging and gene expression
CK Xu, G Meisl, N Moshkov, K Goda, A Shkarin, MF Schlögel, TPJ Knowles, L Mazutis, J Guck
(2025)
(doi: 10.1101/2025.09.01.672798)
Direct Observation of the Conformational Transitions in Tau and Their Correlation with Phase Behavior
J Wen, Y Tang, T Sneideris, H Ausserwöger, L Hong, TPJ Knowles, S Perrett, G Wei, S Wu
– JACS Au
(2025)
jacsau.5c00625
(doi: 10.1021/jacsau.5c00625)
Spatial transmission of the Alzheimer’s amyloid beta peptide by secondary oligomers
T Knowles, Q Peter, C Taylor, U Lapinska, J Wei, T Michaels, P Arosio, S Linse
(2025)
(doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7035767/v1)
Model Agnostic Conditioning of Boltzmann Generators for Peptide Cyclization
B du Pont, A Abrudan, R Scrutton, V Radenkovic, H Zhao, T Knowles
(2025)
(doi: 10.1101/2025.08.15.670426)
Quantifying collective interactions in biomolecular phase separation.
H Ausserwöger, E de Csilléry, D Qian, G Krainer, TJ Welsh, T Sneideris, TM Franzmann, S Qamar, NA Erkamp, J Nixon-Abell, M Kar, P St George-Hyslop, AA Hyman, S Alberti, RV Pappu, TPJ Knowles
– Nat Commun
(2025)
16,
7724
(doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-62437-y)
Current practices in the study of biomolecular condensates: a community comment
S Alberti, P Arosio, RB Best, S Boeynaems, D Cai, R Collepardo-Guevara, GL Dignon, R Dimova, S Elbaum-Garfinkle, NL Fawzi, M Fuxreiter, AS Gladfelter, A Honigmann, A Jain, JA Joseph, TPJ Knowles, K Lasker, EA Lemke, K Lindorff-Larsen, R Lipowsky, J Mittal, S Mukhopadhyay, S Myong, RV Pappu, K Rippe, TA Shelkovnikova, AG Vecchiarelli, S Wegmann, H Zhang, M Zhang, C Zubieta, M Zweckstetter, D Dormann, T Mittag
– Nature communications
(2025)
16,
7730
(doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-62055-8)
A Charge-Driven Strategy for Covalent Modification and Modulation of Biomolecular Condensates.
Z Chen, L Liu, J Cattin, TPJ Knowles, GJL Bernardes
– Journal of the American Chemical Society
(2025)
147,
28558
(doi: 10.1021/jacs.5c06625)
Diffusing protein binders to intrinsically disordered proteins.
C Liu, K Wu, H Choi, HL Han, X Zhang, JL Watson, G Ahn, JZ Zhang, S Shijo, LL Good, CM Fischer, AK Bera, A Kang, E Brackenbrough, B Coventry, DR Hick, S Qamar, X Li, J Decarreau, SR Gerben, W Yang, I Goreshnik, D Vafeados, X Wang, M Lamb, A Murray, S Kenny, MS Bauer, AN Hoofnagle, P Zhu, TPJ Knowles, D Baker
– Nature
(2025)
644,
809
(doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09248-9)
Kinetics of seeded protein aggregation: Theory and application
AJ Dear, G Meisl, J Hu, TPJ Knowles, S Linse
– J Chem Phys
(2025)
163,
045101
(doi: 10.1063/5.0273677)
Global kinetic model of lipid-induced α-synuclein aggregation and its inhibition by small molecules.
A Stevenson, R Staats, AJ Dear, D Voderholzer, JE Dreier, G Meisl, R Guido, TPJ Knowles, C Galvagnion, AK Buell, M Vendruscolo, TCT Michaels
– Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
(2025)
122,
e2422427122
(doi: 10.1073/pnas.2422427122)
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Research Groups

Research Interest Groups

Telephone number

01223 336344

Email address

tpjk2@cam.ac.uk

College

St John's College

    Study at Cambridge

    About the University

    Research at Cambridge