T. Knowles

The Alzheimer's Amyloid beta peptide forms biomolecular condensates that trigger amyloid aggregation

This paper shows that Alzheimer's amyloid-beta peptide forms biomolecular condensates on lipid bilayers, accelerating amyloid aggregation and revealing a new early step in the disease mechanism.

Aggregation of the Amyloid-beta Peptide (Abeta40) within Condensates Generated through Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation

This study shows that A{beta}40 can undergo liquid-liquid phase separation and that this process enhances amyloid fibril formation in Alzheimer's disease.

Linking modulation of bio-molecular phase behaviour with collective interactions

This paper introduces a dominance analysis framework to determine the molecular mechanism of condensate modulation, demonstrating its application to G3BP1/RNA condensates disrupted by suramin.

Dominance Analysis: A formalism to uncover dominant energetic contributions to biomolecular condensate formation in multicomponent systems

This paper introduces a formalism to identify dominant energetic contributions to biomolecular condensate formation in multicomponent systems by analyzing phase separation data.

Maturation-dependent changes in the structure and seeding capacity of Aβ42 amyloid fibrils

This study investigates how Aβ42 amyloid fibrils change over time, showing increased length, thickness, and cross-β sheet content, which affects their ability to seed new aggregates.

Alpha-synuclein oligomers displace monomeric alpha-synuclein from lipid membranes

This study shows that alpha-synuclein oligomers bind more strongly to curved lipid membranes and displace monomeric alpha-synuclein, suggesting a new mechanism for Parkinson's disease toxicity.

Adsorption of RNA to interfaces of biomolecular condensates enables wetting transitions

This study shows that pyrimidine-rich RNAs act as adsorbents enabling wetting transitions in condensates formed by purine-rich RNAs, revealing orientation differences between scaffolds and adsorbents.

Selenium Silk Nanostructured Films for Antifungal and Antibacterial Treatments

This paper develops selenium silk nanostructured films that exhibit antibacterial and antifungal properties while being biocompatible and non-cytotoxic.

Multi-dimensional protein solubility optimization with an ultra-high-throughput microfluidic platform

This paper introduces a high-throughput microfluidic platform for protein solubility screening, enabling rapid and efficient optimization of formulation additives and mutations.

Intracellular FUS protein accumulation leads to cytoskeletal, organelle and cellular homeostasis perturbations

This study investigates how mutant FUS protein accumulation affects cytoskeletal, organelle, and cellular homeostasis, linking it to cellular aging and potential senescence mechanisms.

Solid/liquid coexistence during aging of FUS condensates

The paper shows that FUS condensates during aging exhibit solid/liquid coexistence, with the transition initiated at the interface between dense and dilute phases.

Uncovering the universality of self-replication in protein aggregation and its link to disease.

The paper investigates self-replication in protein aggregates, finding it common in both functional and pathological contexts, with disease-related aggregates replicating faster than biological ones.

Analytical solution to the Flory-Huggins model

The paper derives an analytical solution for the Flory-Huggins model, showing its ability to extend phase space validity and reveal exponential scaling laws for protein phase separation.

Tie-lines reveal interactions driving heteromolecular condensate formation

The paper develops a method to determine tie-line gradients in ternary LLPS systems using dilute phase concentration measurements, revealing interaction types and compositions in biomolecular condensates.

Phase separating RNA binding proteins form heterogeneous distributions of clusters in subsaturated solutions

This study investigates cluster formation in subsaturated solutions of RNA binding proteins with prion-like domains and finds that cluster formation and phase separation are coupled through sequence-specific interactions.

The chromatin regulator HMGA1a undergoes phase separation in the nucleus

This study shows HMGA1a undergoes phase separation in the nucleus, driven by protein-DNA interactions and its disordered C-terminal tail.

Rotavirus Replication Factories Are Complex Ribonucleoprotein Condensates

This study shows rotavirus replication factories are RNA-protein condensates formed by phase separation, with unique features that could be targeted for antiviral therapies.

Construction of a liquid-liquid phase separation system from the gel-sol transition of elongated protein microgels in a crowding agent

This study constructs a liquid-liquid phase separation system through a gel-sol transition of elongated protein microgels in a crowding agent, enabling tunable and monitorable models for drug release applications.

The Hsc70 Disaggregation Machinery RemovesMonomer Units Directly from α-Synuclein FibrilEnds

This study shows the Hsc70-DnaJB1-Apg2 chaperone system removes monomer units directly from α-synuclein fibril ends, reversing aggregation without intermediate fragmentation.

Machine learning models for predicting protein condensate formation from sequence determinants and embeddings

This paper develops machine learning models to predict protein condensate formation using sequence determinants and embeddings, achieving high accuracy and sensitivity.

Biomolecular condensates undergo a generic shear-mediated liquid-to-solid transition

The paper shows that protein condensates undergo a liquid-to-solid transition under mechanical shear, revealing hydrogen bonding as a key factor.

Infrared Nanospectroscopy Reveals the Molecular Interaction Fingerprint of an Aggregation Inhibitor with Single Aβ42 Oligomers

This study uses infrared nanospectroscopy to directly measure how bexarotene interacts with Aβ42 oligomers and fibrils, revealing a single hydrogen bond between the compound's carbonyl group and the aggregates.

Iron is a ligand of SecA-like metal-binding domains in vivo

This study identifies iron as a ligand for SecA-like metal-binding domains in E. coli, showing that these domains bind iron preferentially and that azide disrupts this interaction.

Thermodynamic and kinetic design principles for protein aggregation inhibitors

This study develops a kinetic theory to identify thermodynamic and kinetic signatures of effective protein aggregation inhibitors.

The C-terminal tail of the bacterial translocation ATPase SecA modulates its activity

This study investigates how the C-terminal tail of SecA modulates its activity in cotranslational substrate protein recognition by interacting with ribosomes and substrate proteins.

MCE domain proteins: conserved inner membrane lipid-binding proteins required for outer membrane homeostasis

The paper identifies and characterizes MCE domain proteins in E. coli, showing they localize to the inner membrane and play distinct roles in maintaining outer membrane lipid asymmetry.