Professor Tuomas Knowles | Department of Chemistry

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Portrait of tpjk2

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.

Publications

Trodusquemine enhances Aβ₄₂ aggregation but suppresses its toxicity by displacing oligomers from cell membranes

R Limbocker, S Chia, FS Ruggeri, M Perni, R Cascella, GT Heller, G Meisl, B Mannini, J Habchi, TCT Michaels, PK Challa, M Ahn, ST Casford, N Fernando, CK Xu, ND Kloss, SIA Cohen, JR Kumita, C Cecchi, M Zasloff, S Linse, TPJ Knowles, F Chiti, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson

– Nature Communications

(2019)

10,

225

(DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07699-5)

Physical determinants of amyloid assembly in biofilm formation

M Andreasen, G Meisl, JD Taylor, TCT Michaels, A Levin, DE Otzen, MR Chapman, CM Dobson, SJ Matthews, TPJ Knowles

– MBio

(2019)

10,

(DOI: 10.1128/mbio.02279-18)

Oligomer diversity during the aggregation of the repeat-region of tau

M Kjaergaard, AJ Dear, F Kundel, S Qamar, G Meisl, TPJ Knowles, D Klenerman

– ACS Chemical Neuroscience

(2018)

9,

3060

(DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00250)

Stabilization and Characterization of Cytotoxic Aβ40 Oligomers Isolated from an Aggregation Reaction in the Presence of Zinc Ions.

B Mannini, J Habchi, S Chia, FS Ruggeri, M Perni, TPJ Knowles, CM Dobson, M Vendruscolo

– ACS Chemical Neuroscience

(2018)

9,

2959

(DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00141)

Resolving protein mixtures using microfluidic diffusional sizing combined with synchrotron radiation circular dichroism.

C Bortolini, T Kartanas, D Copic, I Condado Morales, Y Zhang, PK Challa, Q Peter, T Jávorfi, R Hussain, M Dong, G Siligardi, TPJ Knowles, J Charmet

– Lab Chip

(2019)

19,

50

(DOI: 10.1039/c8lc00757h)

Image-Assisted Microvessel-on-a-Chip Platform for Studying Cancer Cell Transendothelial Migration Dynamics

C Bertulli, M Gerigk, N Piano, Y Liu, D Zhang, T Müller, TJ Knowles, YYS Huang

– Scientific Reports

(2018)

8,

12480

(DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-30776-0)

Mechanobiology of Protein Droplets: Force Arises from Disorder

TJ Welsh, Y Shen, A Levin, TPJ Knowles

– Cell

(2018)

175,

1457

(DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.11.020)

Quantifying Co-Oligomer Formation by Alpha-Synuclein

M Iljina, AJ Dear, GA Garcia, S De, L Tosatto, P Flagmeier, DR Whiten, TCT Michaels, D Frenkel, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles, D Klenerman

– ACS nano

(2018)

12,

10855

(DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.8b03575)

Automated Behavioral Analysis of Large C. elegans Populations Using a Wide Field-of-view Tracking Platform.

M Perni, S Casford, FA Aprile, EA Nollen, TPJ Knowles, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson

– Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE

(2018)

2018,

ARTN e58643

(DOI: 10.3791/58643)

Statistical Mechanics of Globular Oligomer Formation by Protein Molecules

AJ Dear, A Šarić, TCT Michaels, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles

– Journal of Physical Chemistry B

(2018)

122,

11721

(DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.8b07805)