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

Direct, high-throughput linking of single cell imaging and gene expression
CK Xu, G Meisl, N Moshkov, K Goda, A Shkarin, MF Schlögel, TPJ Knowles, L Mazutis, J Guck
(2025)
Spatial transmission of the Alzheimer’s amyloid beta peptide by secondary oligomers
T Knowles, Q Peter, C Taylor, U Lapinska, J Wei, T Michaels, P Arosio, S Linse
(2025)
Model Agnostic Conditioning of Boltzmann Generators for Peptide Cyclization
B du Pont, A Abrudan, R Scrutton, V Radenkovic, H Zhao, T Knowles
(2025)
Current practices in the study of biomolecular condensates: a community comment
S Alberti, P Arosio, RB Best, S Boeynaems, D Cai, R Collepardo-Guevara, GL Dignon, R Dimova, S Elbaum-Garfinkle, NL Fawzi, M Fuxreiter, AS Gladfelter, A Honigmann, A Jain, JA Joseph, TPJ Knowles, K Lasker, EA Lemke, K Lindorff-Larsen, R Lipowsky, J Mittal, S Mukhopadhyay, S Myong, RV Pappu, K Rippe, TA Shelkovnikova, AG Vecchiarelli, S Wegmann, H Zhang, M Zhang, C Zubieta, M Zweckstetter, D Dormann, T Mittag
Nat Commun
(2025)
16
Quantifying collective interactions in biomolecular phase separation
H Ausserwöger, E de Csilléry, D Qian, G Krainer, TJ Welsh, T Sneideris, TM Franzmann, S Qamar, NA Erkamp, J Nixon-Abell, M Kar, P St George-Hyslop, AA Hyman, S Alberti, RV Pappu, TPJ Knowles
Nature Communications
(2025)
16
A Charge-Driven Strategy for Covalent Modification and Modula- tion of Biomolecular Condensates
Z Chen, L Liu, J Cattin, TPJ Knowles, GJL Bernardes
J Am Chem Soc
(2025)
147
Diffusing protein binders to intrinsically disordered proteins
C Liu, K Wu, H Choi, HL Han, X Zhang, JL Watson, G Ahn, JZ Zhang, S Shijo, LL Good, CM Fischer, AK Bera, A Kang, E Brackenbrough, B Coventry, DR Hick, S Qamar, X Li, J Decarreau, SR Gerben, W Yang, I Goreshnik, D Vafeados, X Wang, M Lamb, A Murray, S Kenny, MS Bauer, AN Hoofnagle, P Zhu, TPJ Knowles, D Baker
Nature
(2025)
644
Kinetics of seeded protein aggregation: Theory and application.
AJ Dear, G Meisl, J Hu, TPJ Knowles, S Linse
Journal of Chemical Physics
(2025)
163
Global kinetic model of lipid-induced α-synuclein aggregation and its inhibition by small molecules
A Stevenson, R Staats, AJ Dear, D Voderholzer, JE Dreier, G Meisl, R Guido, TPJ Knowles, C Galvagnion, AK Buell, M Vendruscolo, TCT Michaels
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
(2025)
122
On‐Chip De Novo Production of mRNA Vaccine in Lipid Nanoparticles
S Zilberzwige-Tal, A Levin, A Ezra, U Elia, G Finkelstein-Zuta, T Kreiser, L Gershon, M Goldsmith, E Kon, Y Navon, O Cohen, TP Knowles, D Peer, E Gazit
Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)
(2025)
21

Co-Director

Research Interest Groups

Telephone number

01223 336344

Email address