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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

Controlling the Physical Dimensions of Peptide Nanotubes by Supramolecular Polymer Coassembly.
L Adler-Abramovich, P Marco, ZA Arnon, RCG Creasey, TCT Michaels, A Levin, DJ Scurr, CJ Roberts, TPJ Knowles, SJB Tendler, E Gazit
– ACS Nano
(2016)
10,
7436
(doi: 10.1021/acsnano.6b01587)
Synthesis of Nonequilibrium Supramolecular Peptide Polymers on a Microfluidic Platform
TO Mason, TCT Michaels, A Levin, E Gazit, CM Dobson, AK Buell, TPJ Knowles
– J Am Chem Soc
(2016)
138,
9589
(doi: 10.1021/jacs.6b04136)
Quantifying Measurement Fluctuations from Stochastic Surface Processes on Sensors with Heterogeneous Sensitivity
J Charmet, TCT Michaels, R Daly, A Prasad, P Thiruvenkathanathan, RS Langley, TPJ Knowles, AA Seshia
– Physical Review Applied
(2016)
5,
064016
(doi: 10.1103/physrevapplied.5.064016)
Quantitative analysis of co-oligomer formation by amyloid-beta peptide isoforms.
M Iljina, GA Garcia, AJ Dear, J Flint, P Narayan, TCT Michaels, CM Dobson, D Frenkel, TPJ Knowles, D Klenerman
– Sci Rep
(2016)
6,
28658
(doi: 10.1038/srep28658)
Fluctuations in the Kinetics of Linear Protein Self-Assembly.
TCT Michaels, AJ Dear, JB Kirkegaard, KL Saar, DA Weitz, TPJ Knowles
– Physical Review Letters
(2016)
116,
258103
(doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.258103)
Particle-Based Monte-Carlo Simulations of Steady-State Mass Transport at Intermediate Péclet Numbers
T Müller, P Arosio, L Rajah, SIA Cohen, EV Yates, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles
– International Journal of Nonlinear Sciences and Numerical Simulation
(2016)
17,
175
(doi: 10.1515/ijnsns-2015-0056)
Amyloid Fibrils as Building Blocks for Natural and Artificial Functional Materials.
TPJ Knowles, R Mezzenga
– Advanced Materials
(2016)
28,
6546
(doi: 10.1002/adma.201505961)
A Microfluidic Platform for Real-Time Detection and Quantification of Protein-Ligand Interactions
TW Herling, DJ O'Connell, MC Bauer, J Persson, U Weininger, TPJ Knowles, S Linse
– Biophysical journal
(2016)
110,
1957
(doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2016.03.038)
Self-assembly of MPG1, a hydrophobin protein from the rice blast fungus that forms functional amyloid coatings, occurs by a surface-driven mechanism
CLL Pham, A Rey, V Lo, M Soulès, Q Ren, G Meisl, TPJ Knowles, AH Kwan, M Sunde
– Scientific Reports
(2016)
6,
25288
(doi: 10.1038/srep25288)
Electrostatically-guided inhibition of Curli amyloid nucleation by the CsgC-like family of chaperones.
JD Taylor, WJ Hawthorne, J Lo, A Dear, N Jain, G Meisl, M Andreasen, C Fletcher, M Koch, N Darvill, N Scull, A Escalera-Maurer, L Sefer, R Wenman, S Lambert, J Jean, Y Xu, B Turner, SG Kazarian, MR Chapman, D Bubeck, A de Simone, TPJ Knowles, SJ Matthews
– Sci Rep
(2016)
6,
24656
(doi: 10.1038/srep24656)
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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