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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

α-synuclein oligomers displace monomeric α-synuclein from lipid membranes
G Šneiderienė, MA Czekalska, CK Xu, AK Jayaram, G Krainer, WE Arter, QAE Peter, M Castellana-Cruz, KL Saar, A Levin, T Mueller, S Fiedler, SRA Devenish, H Fiegler, JR Kumita, TPJ Knowles
– ACS Nano
(2024)
18,
17469
Hierarchical Protofilament Intertwining Rules the Formation of Mixed-Curvature Amyloid Polymorphs.
J Zhou, S Assenza, M Tatli, J Tian, IM Ilie, EL Starostin, A Caflisch, TPJ Knowles, G Dietler, FS Ruggeri, H Stahlberg, SK Sekatskii, R Mezzenga
– Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)
(2024)
11,
e2402740
The Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Regulator Controls Tolerogenic Responses to Food Allergens in Mice and Humans
M Emmenegger, C Zografou, Y Dai, L Hoyt, R Gudneppanavar, A Chincisan, H Rehrauer, F Noé, N Zajac, G Meisl, M Schneider, H Nguyen, K Höpker, T Knowles, M Sospedra, R Martin, A Ring, S Leeds, S Eisenbarth, M Egan, E Bruscia, A Aguzzi
(2024)
Electrolyte‐gated organic field‐effect transistors with high operational stability and lifetime in practical electrolytes
D Simatos, M Nikolka, J Charmet, LJ Spalek, Z Toprakcioglu, IE Jacobs, IB Dimov, G Schweicher, MJ Lee, CM Fernández‐Posada, DJ Howe, TA Hakala, LWY Roode, V Pecunia, TP Sharp, W Zhang, M Alsufyani, I McCulloch, TPJ Knowles, H Sirringhaus
– SmartMat
(2024)
5,
e1291
The role of shear forces in primary and secondary nucleation of amyloid fibrils
E Axell, J Hu, M Lindberg, AJ Dear, L Ortigosa-Pascual, EA Andrzejewska, G Šneiderienė, D Thacker, TPJ Knowles, E Sparr, S Linse
– Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
(2024)
121,
e2322572121
Electrolyte‐gated organic field‐effect transistors with high operational stability and lifetime in practical electrolytes
D Simatos, M Nikolka, J Charmet, LJ Spalek, Z Toprakcioglu, IE Jacobs, IB Dimov, G Schweicher, MJ Lee, CM Fernández-Posada, DJ Howe, TA Hakala, LWY Roode, V Pecunia, TP Sharp, W Zhang, M Alsufyani, I McCulloch, TPJ Knowles, H Sirringhaus
– SmartMat
(2024)
5,
Biomolecular condensates with complex architectures via controlled nucleation
NA Erkamp, MAM Verwiel, D Qian, T Sneideris, FA Spaepen, DA Weitz, JCM van Hest, TPJ Knowles
– Nature Chemical Engineering
(2024)
1,
430
Aβ Oligomer Dissociation Is Catalyzed by Fibril Surfaces.
A Dear, D Thacker, S Wennmalm, L Ortigosa-Pascual, EA Andrzejewska, G Meisl, S Linse, T Knowles
– ACS chemical neuroscience
(2024)
15,
2296
Solutes unmask differences in clustering versus phase separation of FET proteins
M Kar, LT Vogel, G Chauhan, S Felekyan, H Ausserwöger, TJ Welsh, F Dar, AR Kamath, TPJ Knowles, AA Hyman, CAM Seidel, RV Pappu
– Nature Communications
(2024)
15,
4408
Biomolecular condensates sustain pH gradients at equilibrium driven by charge neutralisation
H Ausserwöger, R Scrutton, T Sneideris, C Fischer, D Qian, E de Csilléry, K Saar, A Białek, M Oeller, G Krainer, T Franzmann, S Wittmann, J Iglesias-Artola, G Invernizzi, A Hyman, S Alberti, N Lorenzen, T Knowles
(2024)
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Research Interest Groups

Telephone number

01223 336344

Email address

tpjk2@cam.ac.uk