Publications

*corresponding authors;†co-first authors

Google Scholar: Yong Woong Jun
ORCID: 0000-0001-9359-1265

2025

#53. Harnessing Deaminated DNA to Modulate mRNA Translation for Controlled and Sequential Protein Expression
J. Choi,† T. U. Jeong,† F. Cabanting, J. Song, C. Park, S. Hwang, J. Y. Kang, J. Kang, L. Fang, Y. W. Jun*
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, accepted

  • Selected as KAIST Top 8 Emerging Technology

#52. Real-Time Detection of Reduced Nitroreductase with a Reversible Fluorescent Probe
S. Sarkar*, A. Shil, Y. W. Jun, Y. J. Yang, R. Cheng, W. Wu, X. Li, Q. Hu*, K. H. Ahn*
Adv. Sci. 2025, e08689

#51. Small-Molecule Activator of SMUG1 Enhances Repair of Pyrimidine Lesions in DNA
Y. Gao, L. McPherson, S. Adimoolam, S. Suresh, D. L. Wilson, I. Das, E. R. Park, C. S.C. Ng, Y. W. Jun, J. M. Ford, E. T. Kool*
DNA Repair 2025, 146, 103809

2024

#50. P2 Receptor Antagonists Rescue Defective Heme Content in an In Vitro SLC25A38-Associated Congenital Sideroblastic Anemia Cell Model
A. Santoro, S. D. Santis, F. Palmieri, A. Vozza, G. Agrimi, I. Andolfo, R. Russo, A. Palazzo, C. T. Storlazzi, A. Ferrucci, Y. W. Jun, E. T. Kool, G. Fieramente, A. Iolascon, E. Paradies*, C. M. T. Marobbio*, L. Palmieri.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25, 13314

#49. Therapeutic Upregulation of DNA Repair Pathways: Strategies and Small Molecule Activators
J. Song,† C. Park,† F. Cabanting, Y. W. Jun*
RSC Med. Chem. 2024, 15, 3970 (Invited Review)

  • RSC Med. Chem. Emerging Investigators Collection 2024

2023

#48. Interactive Twin Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonds Enable Super-Bright, S-Blue Emissive, Single-Benzene Fluorophores
S. Sarkar, A. Shil, Y. W. Jun, Y. J. Yang, W. Choi, S. Singha, K. H. Ahn*
Adv. Func. Mater. 2023, 2304507

#47. Possible Genetic Risks from Heat-Damaged DNA in Food
Y. W. Jun, M. Kant, E. Coskun, T. A. Kato, P. Jaruga, E. Palafox, M. Dizdaroglu, E. T. Kool*
ACS Cent. Sci. 2023, 9, 1170.

#46. A Small-Molecule Fluorescence Probe for Nuclear ATP
U. Tamima, S. Sarkar, M. R. Islam, A. Shil, K .H. Kim, Y. J. Reo, Y. W. Jun, H. Banna, S. Lee, K. H. Ahn*
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, 62, e202300580

#45. Reversible 2′-OH Acylation Enhances RNA Stability
L. Fang, L. Xiao, Y. W. Jun, Y. Onishi, E. T. Kool*
Nat. Chem. 2023, 15, 1296

2022

#44. Chemical Tools for the Study of DNA Repair
Y. W. Jun, E. T. Kool*
Acc. Chem. Res. 2022, 55, 3495

#43. Efficient DNA Fluorescence Labeling via Base Excision Trapping
Y. W. Jun, E. M. Harcourt, L. Xiao, D. L. Wilson, E. T. Kool*
Nat. Commun. 2022, 13, 5043

#42. Small-Molecular Activators of MTH1: An Approach to Enhancing Repair of Oxidative Damage for Preventing Tumorigenesis
Y. Lee, Y. Onishi, A. Kietrys, M. Hebenbrock, L. McPherson, Y. W. Jun, I. Das, S. Adimoolam, D. Ji, M. Mohsen, J. Ford, E. T. Kool*
ACS Chem. Biol. 2022, 17, 2074

#41. Discrimination of Invasive Human Skin Tumor Using an Ultrafast ATP-Proton AND-Gate Probe
Y. W. Jun*†, K. H. Kim†, Y. J. Yang, Y. Jung, K-T. Kim, H. R. Kim, B. H. OH, K. H. Ahn*
ACS Sensors 2022, 7, 1068

2021

#40. Fluorescence Imaging of Mitochondrial DNA Base Excision Repair Reveals Dynamics of Oxidative Stress Responses
Y. W. Jun, E. Albarran, D. L. Wilson, J. Ding, E. T. Kool*
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202111829

  • Selected as Hot Paper

#39. DNA Tiling Enables Precise Acylation-based Labeling and Control of mRNA
L. Xiao, Y. W. Jun, E. T. Kool*
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed 2021, 60, 26798

#38. Control of RNA with Quinone Methide Reversible Acylating Agents
H. S. Park, B. Jash, L. Xiao, Y. W. Jun, E. T. Kool*
Org. Biomol. Chem. 2021, 19, 8367

#37. Environment-Insensitive Two-Photon Ratiometric Probe for in Cellulo Quantitative Measurement of Hydrogen Peroxide
S. W. Cho, Y. W. Jun, Y. J. Reo, S. Sarkar, K. H. Ahn*
Results in Chemistry 2021, 3, 100117

#36. A Study on Hypoxia Susceptibility of Organ Tissues by Fluorescence Imaging with a Ratiometric Nitroreductase Probe
S. Sarkar, H. Lee, H. G. Ryu, S. Singha, Y. M. Lee, Y. J. Reo, Y. W. Jun, K. H. Kim, W. J. Kim*, K. H. Ahn*
ACS Sensors 2021, 6, 148

2020

#35. Small Substrate or Large? Depate over the Mechanism of Glycation Adduct Repair by DJ-1
Y. W. Jun, E. T. Kool*
Cell Chem. Biol. 2022, 27, 1117

#34. Systematic Study on Discrepancy of Fluorescent Properties Between in Solution and in Cells: Super-Bright, Environment-Insensitive Benzocoumarind Dyes
Y. J. Reo†, Y. W. Jun†*, S. W. Cho, J. Jeon, H. Roh, S. Singha, M. Dai, S. Sarkar, H. R. Kim, S. Kim, Y. Jin, Y. L. Jung, C. Ban, J. Joo*, K. H. Ahn*
Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 10556

  • Highlighted in Reserach Features 2022, 141, 126

#33. A Caveat to Common Hemicyanine Dye Componunts and its Resolution
H. J. Park†, C. W. Song†, S. Sarkar, Y. W. Jun, Y. J. Reo, M. Dai, K. H. Ahn
Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 7023

#32. Synthesis of Near-Infrared-Emitting Benzorhodamines and Their Applications to Bioimaging and Photothermal Therapy
M. Dai, H. Lee, Y. J. Yang, M. Santra, C. W. Song, Y. W. Jun, Y. J. Reo, W. J. Kim, K. H. Ahn*
Chem. Eur. J. 2020, 26, 11549

#31. An Excimer Clamp for Measuring Damaged Base Excision by the DNA Repair Enzyme NTH1
Y. W. Jun, D. L. Wilson, A. M. Kietrys, E. R. Lotsof, S. G. Colon, S. S. David, E. T. Kool*
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 132, 7520

  • Selected for Very Important Paper, VIP

#30. Fluorescent Hydrazone Exchange Probe of Pyridoxal Phosphate for the Assessment of Vitamin B6 Status
Y. W. Jun, M. Hebenbrock, E. T. Kool*
Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 317

2019

#29. Frontiers in Probing Alzheimer’s Disease biomarkers with Fluorescent Small-Molecules
Y. W. Jun†, S. W. Cho, J. Jung, Y. Huh, Y. Kim*, D. Kim*, K. H. Ahn*
ACS Cent. Sci. 2019, 5, 209

  • Selected for Supplementary Cover

#28. Molecular Probe for Fluorescent Imaging of ATP in Cells and Tissues
Y. W. Jun, S. Sarkar, K. H. Kim, K. H. Ahn*
ChemPhotoChem 2019, 3, 214

#27. Ratiometric Imaging of 𝛾-Glutamyl Transpeptidase Unperturbed by pH, Polarity, and Viscosity Changes: A Benzocoumarin-Based Two-Photon Fluorescent Probe
Y. J. Reo, Y. W. Jun, S. Sarkar, M. Dai, K. H. Ahn*
Anal. Chem. 2019, 91, 14101

#26. An Endeavor in the Reaction-Based Approach to Fluorescent Probes for Biorelevant Analytes: Challenges and Achievements
S. Singha, Y. W. Jun, S. Sarkar, K. H. Ahn*
Acc. Chem. Res. 2019, 52, 2571

#25. Far-Red/Near-Infrared Emitting, Two-Photon Absorbing, and Bio-Stable Amino-Si-Pyronin Dyes
K. H. Kim, S. Singha*, Y. W. Jun, Y. J. Reo, H. R. Kim, H. G. Ryu, S. Bhunia, K. H. Ahn*
Chem. Sci. 2019, 10, 9028

#24. Modified Isoindolediones as Bright Fluorescent Probes for Cell and Tissue Imaging
O. Vakuliuk, Y. W. Jun, K. Vygranenko, G. Clermont, Y. J. Reo, M. B-Desce*, K. H. Ahn*, D. T. Gryko*
Chem. Eur. J. 2019, 25, 13354

2018

#23. A Ratiometric Two-Photon Fluorescent Probe for Tracking the Lysosomal ATP: Direct in Cellulo Observation of Lysosomal Membrane Fusion Processes
Y. W. Jun, T. Wang, S. Hwang, D. Kim, D. Ma, K. H. Kim, S. Skim, J. Jung, K. H. Ahn*
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 10142 

#22. Three-Photon Tissue Imaging Using Moxifloxacin
S. Lee, J. H. Lee, T. Wang, W. H. Jang, Y. Yoon, B. Kim, Y. W. Jun, M. J. Kim, K. H. Kim*
Sci. Rep. 2018, 8, 9415

#21. A Benzocoumarin Based Two-Photon Fluorescent Probe for Ratiometric Detection of Bisulfite
U. Tamima, S. Singha, H. R. Kim, Y. J. Reo, Y. W. Jun, A. Das*, K. H. Ahn*
Sens. Actuators B Chem. 2018, 277, 576

#20. Dual Probing of Redox Species, NAD(P)H and HOCl, with a Benzo[a]phenoxazine-Based Far Red-Emitting Dye
M. Santra, S. Sarkar, Y. W. Jun, Y. J. Reo, K. H. Ahn*
Tetrahedron Lett. 2018, 59, 3210

#19. Exploration of Molecular Shape-Dependent Luminescence Behavior: Fluorogenic Organic Nanoparticles Based on Bent Shaped Excited-State Intramolecular Proton-Transfer Dyes
M. Santra, Y. W. Jun, Y. J. Reo, S. Sarkar, W. Choi, J. E. Kwon, S. Y. Park*, K. H. Ahn*
ACS Appl. Bio. Mater. 2018, 1, 136

#18. Two-Photon Absorbing 8-Hydroxy-Benzo[g]coumarins with Giant Stokes’ Shifts: An Environment-Insensitive Dye Platform for Probing Biomolecules
S. Sarkar, M. Santra, S. Singha, Y. W. Jun, Y. J. Reo, H. R. Kim, K. H. Ahn*
J. Mater. Chem. B 2018, 6, 4446

#17. Two-Photon Fluorescent Probe for Hydrogen Sulfide Based on a Red-Emitting Benzocoumarin Dye
H. G. Ryu, S. Singha*, Y. W. Jun, Y. J. Reo, K. H. Ahn*
Tetrahedron Lett. 2018, 59, 49

2017

#16. Addressing the Auto-Fluorescence Issue in Deep Tissue Imaging by Two-Photon Microscopy: Significance of Far-Red Emitting Dyes
Y. W. Jun†, H. R. Kim†, Y. J. Reo, M. Dai, K. H. Ahn*
Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 7696

  • cited by over 100 papers

#15. A Two-Photon Fluorescent Probe for Ratiometric Imaging of Endogenous Hypochlorous Acid in Live Cells and Tissues
Y. W. Jun†, S. Sarkar†, S. Singha,* Y. J. Reo, H. R. Kim, J. J. Kim, Y. T. Chang*, K. H. Ahn*
Chem. Commun. 2017, 53, 10800

#14. Ratiometric Imaging of Tissue by Two-Photon Microscopy: Observation of a High Level of Formaldehyde around Mouse Intestinal Crypts
S. Singha†, Y. W. Jun†, J. Bae, K. H. Ahn*
Anal. Chem. 2017, 89, 3724

#13. Fluorescence Labeling of Lysine Residues in Protein Using 8-Thiomethyl-BODIPY
D. Kim*, S. W. Cho, Y. W. Jun, K. H. Ahn*
Bull. Korean Chem. Soc. 2017, 38, 995

#12. A Sensitive Fluorescent Probe for the Polar Solvation Dynamics at Protein-Surfactant Inerfaces
P. Singha, S. Choudhury, S. Singha, Y. W. Jun, J. Sengupta, R. Das, K. H. Ahn, S. K. Pal*
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2017, 19, 12237

#11. Lavender Violet, Blue, and Pink: A New Type of Benzo[a]phenoxazine Based Dipolar, Red-Emitting Dyes
M. Santra, Y. W. Jun, Y. J. Reo, S. Sarkar, K. H. Ahn*
Dyes and Pigm. 2017, 142, 161

#10. Water-Soluble Pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrroles: Synthesis, Luminescence and Two-Photon Cellular Imaging Properties
M. Santra, Y. W. Jun, J. Bae, S. Sarkar, W. Choi, D. T. Gryko, K. H. Ahn*
Asian J. Org. Chem. 2017, 6, 278

2016

#9. Thermally Induced Silane Dehydrocoupling on Silicon Nanostructures
D. Kim†, J. Joo†, Y. Pan, A. Boarino, Y. W. Jun, K. H. Ahn, B. Arkles, M. J. Sailor*
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 6423

#8. Fine-Tuning of CD8(+) T Cell Mitochondrial Metabolism by the Respiratory Chain Repressor MCJ Dictates Protection to Influenza Virus
D. P. Champagne, K. M. Hatle, K. A. Fortner, A. D. Alessandro, T. M. Thornton, R. Yang, D. Torralba, J. Tomas-Cortazar, Y. W. Jun, K. H. Ahn, K. C. Hansen, L. Haynes, J. Anguita, M. Rincon*
Immunity 2016, 44, 1299

#7. A Fluorescence Probe for Bisulfite Ions: Its Application to Two-Photon Tissue Imaging
H. Agarwalla, S. Pai, A. Paul, Y. W. Jun, J. Bae, K. H. Ahn, D. N. Srivastava, A. Das*
J. Mater. Chem. B 2016, 4, 7888

#6. A Dipolar Anthracene Dye: Synthesis, Optical Properties, and Two-Photon Tissue Imaging
H. Moon, Y. W. Jun†, D. Kim, H. G. Ryu†, T. Wang, K. H. Kim, Y. Huh, J. Jung, K. H. Ahn*
Chem. Asian J. 2016, 11, 2518

#5. Dipolar Dyes withPyrrolo[2,3-b]quinoxaline Skeleton Containing a Cyano Group and a Bridged Tertiary Amino Group Synthesis, Solvatofluorochromism and Bioimaging
L. G. Lukasiewicz, I. Deperasinska, Y. M. Pronik, Y. W. Jun, M. Banasiewicz, B. Kozankiewicz, K. H. Ahn*, D. T. Gryko*
Chem. Asian J. 2016, 11, 1718

#4. Two-Photon Fluorescent Probe for Lysosomal Zinc Ions
H. Lee, C. Cho*, H. Seo, S. Singha, Y. W. Jun, Y. Jung, K. Kim, S. Park, S. C. Bae*, K. H. Ahn*
Chem. Commun. 2016, 52, 124

2015

#3. Two-Photon Absorbing Dyes with Minimal Autofluorescence in Tissue Imaging: Application to in vivo Imaging of Amyloid-β Plaques with a Negligible Background Signal
D. Kim†, H. Moon†, S. H. Baik†, S. Singha†, Y. W. Jun, T. Wang, K. H. Kim, B. S. Park, J. Jung, I. M. Jung*, K. H. Ahn*
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 6781

  • cited by over 100 papers

2014

#2. Synthesis of Benzocoumarins and Characterization of Their Photophysical Properties
D. Kim, P. X. Qui, H. Moon, Y. W. Jun, K. H. Ahn*
Asian J. Org. Chem. 2014, 3, 1089

#1. Fluorescence Probes for Analysis and Imaging of Monoamine Oxidase Activity
D. Kim, Y. W. Jun, K. H. Ahn*
Bull. Korean Chem. Soc. 2014, 35, 1269