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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

Physical mechanisms of amyloid nucleation on fluid membranes
J Krausser, TPJ Knowles, A Šarić
– Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
(2020)
117,
33090
(doi: 10.1073/PNAS.2007694117)
Multi-scale microporous silica microcapsules from gas-in water-in oil emulsions (vol 16, pg 3586, 2020)
Z Toprakcioglu, TA Hakala, A Levin, CFW Becker, GJL Bernardes, TPJ Knowles
– Soft matter
(2020)
17,
201
(doi: 10.1039/d0sm90246b)
New solution for fast axial scanning in fluorescence microscopy.
W Zong
– Light, science & applications
(2020)
9,
199
(doi: 10.1038/s41377-020-00442-0)
Evolution of Conformation, Nanomechanics, and Infrared Nanospectroscopy of Single Amyloid Fibrils Converting into Microcrystals.
J Adamcik, FS Ruggeri, JT Berryman, A Zhang, TPJ Knowles, R Mezzenga
– Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)
(2020)
8,
2002182
(doi: 10.1002/advs.202002182)
Machine learning aided top-down proteomics on a microfluidic platform
Y Zhang, M Wright, K Saar, P Challa, A Morgunov, Q Peter, S Devenish, C Dobson, TPJ Knowles
(2020)
2020.11.14.381376
(doi: 10.1101/2020.11.14.381376)
On the Mechanism of Self-Assembly by a Hydrogel-Forming Peptide
GA Braun, BE Ary, AJ Dear, MCH Rohn, AM Payson, DSM Lee, RC Parry, C Friedman, TPJ Knowles, S Linse, KS Åkerfeldt
– Biomacromolecules
(2020)
21,
4781
(doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.0c00989)
Amyloid precipitation in biofluids using a structure-specific chemical antibody
M Rodrigues, P Bhattacharjee, A Brinkmalm, D Do, C Pearson, S De, A Ponjavic, J Varela, F Ruggeri, I Baudrexel, J Lee, A Carr, K Kulenkampff, T Knowles, H Zetterberg, T Snaddon, S Gandhi, S Lee, D Klenerman
(2020)
(doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-81521/v1)
Small-molecule sequestration of amyloid-β as a drug discovery strategy for Alzheimer’s disease
GT Heller, FA Aprile, TCT Michaels, R Limbocker, M Perni, FS Ruggeri, B Mannini, T Löhr, M Bonomi, C Camilloni, A De Simone, IC Felli, R Pierattelli, TPJ Knowles, CM Dobson, M Vendruscolo
– Sci Adv
(2020)
6,
eabb5924
(doi: 10.1126/SCIADV.ABB5924)
Machine learning models for predicting protein condensate formation from sequence determinants and embeddings
K Saar, A Morgunov, R Qi, W Arter, G Krainer, A Lee, T Knowles
(2020)
2020.10.26.354753
(doi: 10.1101/2020.10.26.354753)
Supramolecular Peptide Nanofibrils with Optimized Sequences and Molecular Structures for Efficient Retroviral Transduction
S Sieste, T Mack, E Lump, M Hayn, D Schütz, A Röcker, C Meier, F Kirchhoff, T Knowles, FS Ruggeri, C Synatschke, J Münch, T Weil
(2020)
(doi: 10.26434/chemrxiv.13129709.v1)
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Research Groups

Research Interest Groups

Telephone number

01223 336344

Email address

tpjk2@cam.ac.uk

College

St John's College

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    About the University

    Research at Cambridge