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Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

 

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

Integration and characterization of solid wall electrodes in microfluidic devices fabricated in a single photolithography step
TW Herling, T Müller, L Rajah, JN Skepper, M Vendruscolo, TPJ Knowles
– Applied Physics Letters
(2013)
102,
184102
Influence of specific HSP70 domains on fibril formation of the yeast prion protein Ure2.
LQ Xu, S Wu, AK Buell, SIA Cohen, LJ Chen, WH Hu, SA Cusack, LS Itzhaki, H Zhang, TPJ Knowles, CM Dobson, ME Welland, GW Jones, S Perrett
– Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
(2013)
368,
20110410
Influence of specific HSP70 domains on fibril formation of the yeast prion protein Ure2.
L-Q Xu, S Wu, AK Buell, SIA Cohen, L-J Chen, W-H Hu, SA Cusack, LS Itzhaki, H Zhang, TPJ Knowles, CM Dobson, ME Welland, GW Jones, S Perrett
– Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
(2013)
368,
1
Atomic structure and hierarchical assembly of a cross-β amyloid fibril
AWP Fitzpatrick, GT Debelouchina, MJ Bayro, DK Clare, MA Caporini, VS Bajaj, CP Jaroniec, L Wang, V Ladizhansky, SA Müller, CE MacPhee, CA Waudby, HR Mott, A De Simone, TPJ Knowles, HR Saibil, M Vendruscolo, EV Orlova, RG Griffin, CM Dobson
– Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
(2013)
110,
5468
Electrostatic Effects in Filamentous Protein Aggregation
AK Buell, P Hung, X Salvatella, ME Welland, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles
– Biophysical Journal
(2013)
104,
1116
The Kinetics and Mechanisms of Amyloid Formation
SIA Cohen, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles
(2013)
183
Peptide nanofibrils boost retroviral gene transfer and provide a rapid means for concentrating viruses
M Yolamanova, C Meier, AK Shaytan, V Vas, CW Bertoncini, F Arnold, O Zirafi, SM Usmani, JA Müller, D Sauter, C Goffinet, D Palesch, P Walther, NR Roan, H Geiger, O Lunov, T Simmet, J Bohne, H Schrezenmeier, K Schwarz, L Ständker, W-G Forssmann, X Salvatella, PG Khalatur, AR Khokhlov, TPJ Knowles, T Weil, F Kirchhoff, J Münch
– Nature Nanotechnology
(2013)
8,
130
Amyloid β-protein: the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on fibril formation
R Cukalevski, X Yang, SI Cohen, B Boland, B Frohm, E Thulin, DM WalsXh, TP Knowles, S Linse
– JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2013)
125,
235
Connecting Macroscopic Observables and Microscopic Assembly Events in Amyloid Formation Using Coarse Grained Simulations
NS Bieler, TPJ Knowles, D Frenkel, R Vácha
– PLoS computational biology
(2012)
8,
e1002692
Twisting transition between crystalline and fibrillar phases of aggregated peptides
TPJ Knowles, A De Simone, AW Fitzpatrick, A Baldwin, S Meehan, L Rajah, M Vendruscolo, ME Welland, CM Dobson, EM Terentjev
– Phys Rev Lett
(2012)
109,
158101
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Research Interest Groups

Telephone number

01223 336344

Email address

tpjk2@cam.ac.uk