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Centre for Misfolding Diseases

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

Using a stable protein scaffold to display peptides that bind to alpha-synuclein fibrils
S Bismut, M Schneider, M Miyasaki, Y Feng, E Wilde, D Gunawardena, TPJ Knowles, G Kaminski Schierle, L Itzhaki, J Kumita
(2025)
On the reversibility of amyloid fibril formation
T Pálmadóttir, J Getachew, L Ortigosa-Pascual, E Axell, J Wei, U Olsson, TPJ Knowles, S Linse
– Biophysics Reviews
(2025)
6,
011303
Lipid-induced condensate formation from the Alzheimer's Aβ peptide triggers amyloid aggregation
G Šneiderienė, A González Díaz, SD Adhikari, J Wei, T Michaels, T Šneideris, S Linse, M Vendruscolo, K Garai, TPJ Knowles
– Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
(2025)
122,
e2401307122
Transforming an ATP-dependent enzyme into a dissipative, self-assembling system
Y Li, J Zhu, Z Zhang, J Wei, F Wang, G Meisl, TPJ Knowles, EH Egelman, FA Tezcan
– Nature chemical biology
(2025)
1
Detecting and Tracking β-Amyloid Oligomeric Forms and Dynamics In Vitro by a High-Sensitivity Fluorescent-Based Assay
Y Zhao, O Brener, E Andrzejewska, J Wei, C Reiß, O Tietz, TPJ Knowles, FI Aigbirhio
– ACS chemical neuroscience
(2024)
15,
4383
Extracellular phase separation mediates storage and release of thyroglobulin in the thyroid follicular lumen
T Knowles, Y Yao, N Erkamp, T Sneideris, X Yang, R Scrutton, M Schneider, C Fischer, E Schoenmakers, N Schoenmakers
(2024)
Assessment of fine-tuned large language models for real-world chemistry and material science applications
J Van Herck, MV Gil, KM Jablonka, A Abrudan, AS Anker, M Asgari, B Blaiszik, A Buffo, L Choudhury, C Corminboeuf, H Daglar, AM Elahi, IT Foster, S Garcia, M Garvin, G Godin, LL Good, J Gu, N Xiao Hu, X Jin, T Junkers, S Keskin, TPJ Knowles, R Laplaza, M Lessona, S Majumdar, H Mashhadimoslem, RD McIntosh, SM Moosavi, B Mouriño, F Nerli, C Pevida, N Poudineh, M Rajabi-Kochi, KL Saar, F Hooriabad Saboor, M Sagharichiha, KJ Schmidt, J Shi, E Simone, D Svatunek, M Taddei, I Tetko, D Tolnai, S Vahdatifar, J Whitmer, DCF Wieland, R Willumeit-Römer, A Züttel, B Smit
– Chem Sci
(2024)
16,
670
The inhibitory action of the chaperone BRICHOS against the α-Synuclein secondary nucleation pathway
D Ghosh, F Torres, MM Schneider, D Ashkinadze, H Kadavath, Y Fleischmann, S Mergenthal, P Güntert, G Krainer, EA Andrzejewska, L Lin, J Wei, E Klotzsch, T Knowles, R Riek
– Nature communications
(2024)
15,
10038
Dynamically arrested condensate fusion creates complex structures with varying material properties
N Erkamp, I Sanchez-Burgos, A Zhou, T Krug, S Qamar, T Sneideris, E Zhang, K Nakajima, A Chen, R Collepardo-Guevara, J van Hest, P St George-Hyslop, D Weitz, J Espinosa, T Knowles
(2024)
Global kinetic model of lipid-induced α-synuclein aggregation and its inhibition by small molecules
A Stevenson, R Staats, A Dear, D Voderholzer, G Meisl, R Guido, C Galvagnion, A Buell, TPJ Knowles, M Vendruscolo, TCT Michaels
(2024)
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Co-Director

Research Interest Groups

Telephone number

01223 336344

Email address