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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

Theoretical and Data-Driven Approaches for Biomolecular Condensates
KL Saar, D Qian, LL Good, AS Morgunov, R Collepardo-Guevara, RB Best, TPJ Knowles
– Chem Rev
(2023)
123,
8988
(doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.2c00586)
ANXA11 biomolecular condensates facilitate protein-lipid phase coupling on lysosomal membranes
J Nixon-Abell, FS Ruggeri, S Qamar, TW Herling, MA Czekalska, Y Shen, G Wang, C King, MS Fernandopulle, T Sneideris, JL Watson, VVS Pillai, W Meadows, JW Henderson, JE Chambers, JL Wagstaff, SH Williams, H Coyle, Y Lu, S Zhang, SJ Marciniak, SMV Freund, E Derivery, ME Ward, M Vendruscolo, TPJ Knowles, P St George-Hyslop
– bioRxiv
(2023)
(doi: 10.1101/2023.03.22.533832)
Multidimensional Protein Solubility Optimization with an Ultrahigh-Throughput Microfluidic Platform.
NA Erkamp, M Oeller, T Sneideris, H Ausserwoger, A Levin, TJ Welsh, R Qi, D Qian, N Lorenzen, H Zhu, P Sormanni, M Vendruscolo, TPJ Knowles
– Analytical Chemistry
(2023)
95,
5362
(doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c05495)
Kinetic Analysis Reveals the Role of Secondary Nucleation in Regenerated Silk Fibroin Self-Assembly.
A Kamada, Z Toprakcioglu, TPJ Knowles
– Biomacromolecules
(2023)
24,
1709
(doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.2c01479)
Microfluidic antibody affinity profiling of alloantibody-HLA interactions in human serum
MM Schneider, T Scheidt, AJ Priddey, CK Xu, M Hu, G Meisl, SRA Devenish, CM Dobson, V Kosmoliaptsis, TPJ Knowles
– Biosensors & bioelectronics
(2023)
228,
115196
(doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2023.115196)
Single-Molecule Sizing through Nanocavity Confinement.
RPB Jacquat, G Krainer, QAE Peter, AN Babar, O Vanderpoorten, CK Xu, TJ Welsh, CF Kaminski, UF Keyser, JJ Baumberg, TPJ Knowles
– Nano Lett
(2023)
23,
1629
(doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04830)
Selenium Silk Nanostructured Films with Antifungal and Antibacterial Activity
Z Toprakcioglu, EG Wiita, AK Jayaram, RC Gregory, TPJ Knowles
– ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
(2023)
15,
10452
(doi: 10.1021/acsami.2c21013)
Non-specificity fingerprints for clinical stage antibodies in solution
T Herling, G Invernizzi, H Ausserwöger, JR Bjelke, T Egebjerg, S Lund, N Lorenzen, T Knowles
(2023)
(doi: 10.1101/2023.02.13.528263)
Spatially non-uniform condensates emerge from dynamically arrested phase separation
N Erkamp, T Sneideris, H Ausserwöger, D Qian, S Qamar, J Nixon-Abell, PS George-Hyslop, J Schmit, D Weitz, TPJ Knowles
– Nat Commun
(2023)
14,
684
(doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-36059-1)
Direct digital sensing of protein biomarkers in solution
G Krainer, KL Saar, WE Arter, TJ Welsh, MA Czekalska, RPB Jacquat, Q Peter, WC Traberg, A Pujari, AK Jayaram, P Challa, CG Taylor, L-M van der Linden, T Franzmann, RM Owens, S Alberti, D Klenerman, TPJ Knowles
– Nature Communications
(2023)
14,
653
(doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-35792-x)
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Research Groups

Research Interest Groups

Telephone number

01223 336344

Email address

tpjk2@cam.ac.uk

College

St John's College

    Study at Cambridge

    About the University

    Research at Cambridge