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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

Label-free detection of amyloid growth with microcantilever sensors.
TPJ Knowles, W Shu, F Huber, HP Lang, C Gerber, CM Dobson, ME Welland
– Nanotechnology
(2008)
19,
384007
(doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/19/38/384007)
Measurement of Amyloid Fibril Length Distributions by Inclusion of Rotational Motion in Solution NMR Diffusion Measurements
AJ Baldwin, SJ Anthony‐Cahill, TPJ Knowles, G Lippens, J Christodoulou, PD Barker, CM Dobson
– Angewandte Chemie
(2008)
120,
3433
(doi: 10.1002/ange.200703915)
Measurement of amyloid fibril length distributions by inclusion of rotational motion in solution NMR diffusion measurements.
AJ Baldwin, SJ Anthony-Cahill, TPJ Knowles, G Lippens, J Christodoulou, PD Barker, CM Dobson
– Angewandte Chemie International Edition
(2008)
47,
3385
(doi: 10.1002/anie.200703915)
Highly specific label-free protein detection from lysed cells using internally referenced microcantilever sensors.
W Shu, S Laurenson, TPJ Knowles, P Ko Ferrigno, AA Seshia
– Biosensors and Bioelectronics
(2008)
24,
233
(doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2008.03.036)
Role of intermolecular forces in defining material properties of protein nanofibrils.
TP Knowles, AW Fitzpatrick, S Meehan, HR Mott, M Vendruscolo, CM Dobson, ME Welland
– Science
(2007)
318,
1900
(doi: 10.1126/science.1150057)
Characterisation of amyloid fibril formation by small heat-shock chaperone proteins human alpha A-, alpha beta- and R120G alpha B-Crystallins
S Meehan, TPJ Knowles, AJ Baldwin, JF Smith, AM Squires, P Clements, TM Treweek, H Ecroyd, GG Tartaglia, M Vendruscolo, CE Macphee, CM Dobson, JA Carver
– Journal of Molecular Biology
(2007)
372,
470
(doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2007.06.060)
Kinetics and thermodynamics of amyloid formation from direct measurements of fluctuations in fibril mass
TPJ Knowles, W Shu, GL Devlin, S Meehan, S Auer, CM Dobson, ME Welland
– Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
(2007)
104,
10016
(doi: 10.1073/pnas.0610659104)
Analysis of structural order in amyloid fibrils
TPJ Knowles, JF Smith, GL Devlin, CM Dobson, ME Welland
– Nanotechnology
(2006)
18,
044031
(doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/18/4/044031)
Characterization of the nanoscale properties of individual amyloid fibrils.
JF Smith, TPJ Knowles, CE Macphee, CM Dobson, ME Welland
– Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA
(2006)
103,
15806
(doi: 10.1073/pnas.0604035103)
Spatial persistence of angular correlations in amyloid fibrils
TPJ Knowles, JF Smith, A Craig, CM Dobson, ME Welland
– Physical review letters
(2006)
96,
238301
(doi: 10.1103/physrevlett.96.238301)
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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