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Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

 

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

Extracellular phase separation mediates storage and release of thyroglobulin in the thyroid follicular lumen
Y Yao, N Erkamp, T Sneideris, X Yang, R Scrutton, MM Schneider, CM Fischer, E Schoenmakers, N Schoenmakers, TPJ Knowles
– Communications Biology
(2025)
8,
466
Ganglioside lipids inhibit the aggregation of the Alzheimer's amyloid-β peptide.
Z Toprakcioglu, AK Jayaram, TPJ Knowles
– Rsc Chemical Biology
(2025)
6,
809
Synapsin Condensation is Governed by Sequence-Encoded Molecular Grammars.
C Hoffmann, KM Ruff, IA Edu, MK Shinn, JV Tromm, MR King, A Pant, H Ausserwöger, JR Morgan, TPJ Knowles, RV Pappu, D Milovanovic
– Journal of molecular biology
(2025)
437,
168987
Kinetics of Amyloid Oligomer Formation.
J Wei, G Meisl, AJ Dear, TCT Michaels, TPJ Knowles
– Annual review of biophysics
(2025)
54,
185
Liquid-solid coexistence at single fibril resolution during tau condensate ageing
MSR Sahu, J Wei, DA Weitz, TPJ Knowles, K Garai
(2025)
Using a stable protein scaffold to display peptides that bind to alpha-synuclein fibrils
S Bismut, M Schneider, M Miyasaki, Y Feng, E Wilde, D Gunawardena, TPJ Knowles, G Kaminski Schierle, L Itzhaki, J Kumita
(2025)
BPS2025 - Sequence-encoded molecular grammar governs the formation of synaptic condensates
C Hoffmann, K Ruff, IA Edu, MK Shinn, JV Tromm, A Pant, H Ausserwöger, J Morgan, TP Knowles, RV Pappu, D Milovanovic
– Biophysical Journal
(2025)
124,
562a
BPS2025 - Quantifying and predicting antibody non-specificity in the clinical landscape: Microfluidics and machine learning
E de Csillery, H Ausserwöger, M Oeller, I Waibel, R Akbar, A Abrudan, G Krainer, G Invernizzi, P Arosio, N Lorenzen, T Knowles
– Biophysical Journal
(2025)
124,
57a
BPS2025 - Digital seed amplification quantifies the increase in seeding-competent aggregates in Parkinson's patients' CSF
A Levin, S Cai, H Ausserwoeger, G Meisl, D Qian, R Scrutton, IA Edu, G Krainer, T Sneideris, L Chai, W Arter, TP Knowles
– Biophysical Journal
(2025)
124,
510a
BPS2025 - Single-molecule investigation of liquid-liquid and liquid-solid phase separation of amyloid proteins
M Sahu, J Wei, VK V, TP Knowles, K Garai
– Biophysical Journal
(2025)
124,
411a
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Research Interest Groups

Telephone number

01223 336344

Email address

tpjk2@cam.ac.uk