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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

High Resolution Biomolecular Condensate Phase Diagrams with a Combinatorial Microdroplet Platform
W Arter, R Qi, N Erkamp, G Krainer, K Didi, T Welsh, J Acker, J Nixon-Abell, J Nixon-Abell, S Qamar, J Guillén-Boixet, T Franzmann, D Kuster, A Hyman, A Borodavka, P St George-Hyslop, S Alberti, TPJ Knowles
(2020)
2020.06.04.132308
(doi: 10.1101/2020.06.04.132308)
Templating S100A9 amyloids on Aβ fibrillar surfaces revealed by charge detection mass spectrometry, microscopy, kinetic and microfluidic analyses
J Pansieri, I Iashchishyn, H Fakhouri, L Ostojić, M Malisauskas, G Musteikyte, V Smirnovas, M Schneider, T Scheidt, C Xu, G Meisl, T Knowles, E Gazit, R Antoine, L Morozova-Roche
(2020)
2020.05.26.116400
(doi: 10.1101/2020.05.26.116400)
Direct digital sensing of protein biomarkers in solution
G Krainer, K Saar, W Arter, T Welsh, M Czekalska, RPB Jacquat, Q Peter, W Traberg, W Traberg, A Pujari, A Jayaram, P Challa, C Taylor, L-M van der Linden, T Franzmann, R Owens, S Alberti, D Klenerman, TPJ Knowles
– BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2020)
120,
2020.05.24.113498
(doi: 10.1101/2020.05.24.113498)
Digital Sensing and Molecular Computation by an Enzyme-Free DNA Circuit
WE Arter, Y Yusim, Q Peter, CG Taylor, D Klenerman, UF Keyser, TPJ Knowles
– ACS Nano
(2020)
14,
5763
(doi: 10.1021/acsnano.0c00628)
Ultrastructural evidence for self-replication of Alzheimer-associated Aβ42 amyloid along the sides of fibrils.
M Törnquist, R Cukalevski, U Weininger, G Meisl, TPJ Knowles, T Leiding, A Malmendal, M Akke, S Linse
– Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
(2020)
117,
11265
(doi: 10.1073/pnas.1918481117)
Assessing motor-related phenotypes of Caenorhabditis elegans with the wide field-of-view nematode tracking platform
M Koopman, Q Peter, RI Seinstra, M Perni, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles, EAA Nollen
– Nature Protocols
(2020)
15,
2071
(doi: 10.1038/s41596-020-0321-9)
Kinetic diversity of amyloid oligomers
AJ Dear, TCT Michaels, G Meisl, D Klenerman, S Wu, S Perrett, S Linse, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles
– Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
(2020)
117,
12087
(doi: 10.1073/pnas.1922267117)
Reentrant Liquid Condensate Phase of Proteins is Stabilized by Hydrophobic and Non-Ionic interactions
G Krainer, TJ Welsh, JA Joseph, P St George-Hyslop, AA Hyman, R Collepardo-Guevara, S Alberti, TPJ Knowles
– BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2020)
120,
28A
(doi: 10.1101/2020.05.04.076299)
A Microfluidic Co-Flow Route for Human Serum Albumin-Drug-Nanoparticle Assembly.
TA Hakala, S Davies, Z Toprakcioglu, B Bernardim, GJL Bernardes, TPJ Knowles
– Chemistry – A European Journal
(2020)
26,
5965
(doi: 10.1002/chem.202001146)
Complexity in Lipid Membrane Composition Induces Resilience to Aβ42 Aggregation.
M Sanguanini, KN Baumann, S Preet, S Chia, J Habchi, TPJ Knowles, M Vendruscolo
– ACS Chemical Neuroscience
(2020)
11,
1347
(doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00101)
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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