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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

Protein solubility and protein homeostasis: A generic view of protein misfolding disorders
M Vendruscolo, TPJ Knowles, CM Dobson
– Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology
(2011)
3,
Probing small molecule binding to amyloid fibrils.
AK Buell, EK Esbjörner, PJ Riss, DA White, FI Aigbirhio, G Toth, ME Welland, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles
– Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
(2011)
13,
20044
Inversion of the Balance between Hydrophobic and Hydrogen Bonding Interactions in Protein Folding and Aggregation
AW Fitzpatrick, TPJ Knowles, CA Waudby, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson
– PLoS Comput Biol
(2011)
7,
e1002169
Binding of the molecular chaperone αB-crystallin to Aβ amyloid fibrils inhibits fibril elongation.
SL Shammas, CA Waudby, S Wang, AK Buell, TPJ Knowles, H Ecroyd, ME Welland, JA Carver, CM Dobson, S Meehan
– Biophysical journal
(2011)
101,
1681
Nucleated Polymerisation in the Presence of Pre-Formed Seed Filaments
SIA Cohen, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles
– International Journal of Molecular Sciences
(2011)
12,
5844
Nucleated polymerisation in the presence of pre-formed seed filaments
SIA Cohen, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles
– International journal of molecular sciences
(2011)
12,
5844
Observation of spatial propagation of amyloid assembly from single nuclei
TPJ Knowles, DA White, AR Abate, JJ Agresti, SIA Cohen, RA Sperling, EJ De Genst, CM Dobson, DA Weitz
– Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
(2011)
108,
14746
Metastability of native proteins and the phenomenon of amyloid formation.
AJ Baldwin, TPJ Knowles, GG Tartaglia, AW Fitzpatrick, GL Devlin, SL Shammas, CA Waudby, MF Mossuto, S Meehan, SL Gras, J Christodoulou, SJ Anthony-Cahill, PD Barker, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson
– Journal of the American Chemical Society
(2011)
133,
14160
Nucleated polymerization with secondary pathways. I. Time evolution of the principal moments.
SIA Cohen, M Vendruscolo, ME Welland, CM Dobson, EM Terentjev, TPJ Knowles
– The Journal of Chemical Physics
(2011)
135,
065105
Nucleated polymerization with secondary pathways. II. Determination of self-consistent solutions to growth processes described by non-linear master equations
SIA Cohen, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson, TPJ Knowles
– J Chem Phys
(2011)
135,
065106
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Research Interest Groups

Telephone number

01223 336344

Email address

tpjk2@cam.ac.uk