Professor Tuomas Knowles | Page 54 | Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

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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

The length distribution of frangible biofilaments

TCT Michaels, P Yde, JCW Willis, MH Jensen, D Otzen, CM Dobson, AK Buell, TPJ Knowles

– The Journal of Chemical Physics

(2015)

143,

164901

(doi: 10.1063/1.4933230)

ChemInform Abstract: Biophysical Approaches for the Study of Interactions Between Molecular Chaperones and Protein Aggregates

MA Wright, FA Aprile, P Arosio, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles

– ChemInform

(2015)

46,

no

(doi: 10.1002/chin.201545294)

Particle-based simulations of steady-state mass transport at high Péclet numbers

T Müller, P Arosio, L Rajah, SIA Cohen, EV Yates, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles

(2015)

(doi: 10.48550/arxiv.1510.05126)

Latent analysis of unmodified biomolecules and their complexes in solution with attomole detection sensitivity.

EV Yates, T Müller, L Rajah, EJ De Genst, P Arosio, S Linse, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles

– Nat Chem

(2015)

7,

802

(doi: 10.1038/NCHEM.2344)

Oligomers of heat-shock proteins: Structures that don't imply function

WM Jacobs, TPJ Knowles, D Frenkel

(2015)

(doi: 10.48550/arxiv.1508.07924)

Fast Flow Microfluidics and Single-Molecule Fluorescence for the Rapid Characterization of α‑Synuclein Oligomers

MH Horrocks, L Tosatto, AJ Dear, GA Garcia, M Iljina, N Cremades, M Dalla Serra, TPJ Knowles, CM Dobson, D Klenerman

– Analytical Chemistry

(2015)

87,

8818

(doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5b01811)

Dynamics of protein aggregation and oligomer formation governed by secondary nucleation.

TCT Michaels, HW Lazell, P Arosio, TPJ Knowles

– The Journal of chemical physics

(2015)

143,

054901

(doi: 10.1063/1.4927655)

Force generation by the growth of amyloid aggregates.

TW Herling, GA Garcia, TCT Michaels, W Grentz, J Dean, U Shimanovich, H Gang, T Müller, B Kav, EM Terentjev, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles

– Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

(2015)

112,

9524

(doi: 10.1073/pnas.1417326112)

Molecular Rotors Provide Insights into Microscopic Structural Changes During Protein Aggregation.

AJ Thompson, TW Herling, M Kubánková, A Vyšniauskas, TPJ Knowles, MK Kuimova

– The journal of physical chemistry. B

(2015)

119,

10170

(doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.5b05099)

Enzymatically Active Microgels from Self-Assembling Protein Nanofibrils for Microflow Chemistry

X-M Zhou, U Shimanovich, TW Herling, S Wu, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles, S Perrett

– ACS Nano

(2015)

9,

5772

(doi: 10.1021/acsnano.5b00061)