JUSUNG AN - Research

Research and Goals

My overaching research objective is to develop molecular tools that deepen our understanding of life-threatening diseases, particularly neurodegenerative disease and cancer, and ultimately enable earlier and more precise diagnosis and therapy. To achieve this goal, I pursue an interdisciplinary approach at the interface of organic synthesis, chemical biology, and integrative imaging science. By designing molecular probes and therapeutic candidates with well-defined physicochemical and biochemical properties, I aim to create biocompatible agents that function reliably in complex biological systems, including in vivo imaging settings.

Outlined below are two major research directions; molecular engineering, neuroimaging, multifunctional biomaterials, that have emerged from my research journey:

Neurodegeneration Imaging, Diagnosis, and Therapy

My research in neurodegeneration focuses on developing molecular tools that visualize and quantify amyloid pathology and related microenvironmental changes at its earliest stages. I design small molecule probes that selectively recognize distinct amyloid-β (Aβ) species, including fibrils and soluble oligomers, and that operate reliably in complex biological media such as cerebrospinal fluid and live brain tissue. In parallel, I develop chemical sensors for reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, biothiols, and other dynamic signals that accompany neurodegenerative stress, allowing amyloid aggregation to be interpreted together with its surrounding biochemical context. By combining in vitro kinetic assays with in vivo and ex vivo imaging in animal models, these tools link molecular-scale events events to cellular and circuit-level dysfunction, with to long-term goal of enabling earlier, more sensitive, and mechanistically informed diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Selected Articles:
Engineering a GFP-Core-Inspired NIR-Photocage: Exploring meso-GFP-PRPG towards Alzheimer's Disease Therapeutics
S. Mondal,† J. An,† T. Bera, M. Banerjee, S. Debnath, D. Mandal, A. Sikder, S. Guha, J. S. Kim,* N. D. P. Singh*, ACS Cent. Sci., 11, 1062-1070 (2025) Read here

Early onset diagnosis in Alzheimer’s disease patients via amyloid-β oligomers-sensing probe in cerebrospinal fluid
J. An,† K. Kim,† H. J. Lim, H. Y. Kim, J. Shin, I. Park, I. Cho, H. Y. Kim, S. Kim, C. McLean, K. Y. Choi, Y. Kim,* K. H. Lee,* J. S. Kim*, Nat. Commun., 15, 1004 (2024) Read here

Picomolar-sensitive β-amyloid fibril fluorophores by tailoring the hydrophobicity of biannulated π-elongated dioxaborine-dyes
J. An,† P. Verwilst,† H. Aziz,† J. Shin,† S. Lim, I. Kim, Y. K. Kim, J. S. Kim, Bioact. Mater., 13, 239-248 (2022) Read here

Photoresponsive Cancer Theranostics and Functional Biomaterials

I develop molecule and nanomaterial-based photosensitizers that are activated by light in the visible to near-infrared region, enabling spatially and temporally controlled tumor treatment. Many of these systems are engineered to repond to features of the tumor microenvironment, such as hypoxia reactive oxygen species, pH, or enzyme activity, and are incorporated into functional biomaterial platforms, including supramolecular assemblies, hybrid nanomaterials, and soft matrices. These designs enhance tumor selectivity, drug delivery, and local microenvironment modulation while also supporting imaging-guided therapy.

Selected Articles:
Lutetium texaphyrin-celecoxib conjugate as a potential immuno-photodynamic therapy agent
J. An,† K.-P. Lv,† C. V. Chau,† J. H. Lim,† R. Parida, X. Zheng, S. Debnath, Y. Xu, S. Zheng, A. C. Sedgwick, J. Y. Lee,* D. Luo,* Q. Liu,* J. L. Sessler,* J. S. Kim* , J. Am. Chem. Soc., 146, 19434-19448 (2024) Read here

2D-Ultrathin MXene/DOXjade Platform for Iron Chelation Chemo-photothermal Therapy
Y. Xu,† Y. Wang,† J. An,† A. C. Sedgwick,† M. Li, J. Xie, W. Hu, J. Kang, S. Sen, A. Steinbrueck, B. Zhang, L. Qiao, S. Wageh, J. F. Arambula, L. Liu, H. Zhang, J. L. Sessler, J. S. Kim, Bioact. Mater., 14, 76-85 (2022) Read here

NIR-II emissive multifunctional AIEgen with single laser-activated synergistic photodynamic/photothermal therapy of cancers and pathogens
Y. Xu,† Y. Zhang,† J. Li,† J. An,† C. Li, S. Bai, A. Sharma, G. Deng, J. S. Kim,* Y. Sun*, Biomaterials, 259, 120315 (2020) Read here

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