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Injae Shin

Yonsei University · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

About the Lab

Professor Injae Shin's research lab specializes in the design and development of smart fluorescent and luminescent probes for biomedical and environmental applications. The lab focuses on creating highly selective and sensitive optical sensors for biologically and environmentally relevant species, including reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS), metal ions (e.g., Zn²⁺), and other analytes. A key research direction involves the rational design of organic fluorophores—particularly near-infrared (NIR) probes—enabling deep-tissue imaging, real-time monitoring in live cells, and in vivo applications with minimal background interference. The lab also emphasizes ratiometric and turn-on probe strategies to enhance detection accuracy and quantitative analysis in complex biological systems.

fluorescent probesNIR imagingROS/RNS detectionmetal ion sensingratiometric probes

Research Overview

Papers
195
Total Citations
15,279
Papers (5y)
19
Primary Field
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Research Output Trend

Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.

Publications per year (5y)
19total
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Citations per year (5y)
516total
20222023202420252026

Selected Papers

15
1
Review|1,773 citations·2013
Recent progress in the development of near-infrared fluorescent probes for bioimaging applications
Zhiqian Guo, Sookil Park, Juyoung Yoon, Injae Shin
SJR Q1Chemical Society Reviews

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dyes have emerged as promising modalities for monitoring the levels of various biologically relevant species in cells and organisms. The use of NIR probes enables deep photon penetration in tissue, minimizes photo-damage to biological samples, and produces low background auto-fluorescence from biomolecules present in living systems. The number of new analyte-responsive NIR fluorescent probes has increased substantially in recent years as a consequence of intense r

SpectroscopyChemistry
2
Review|1,153 citations·2016
Recent progress in the development of fluorescent, luminescent and colorimetric probes for detection of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species
Xiaoqiang Chen, Fang Wang, Ji Young Hyun, Tingwen Wei, Jian Qiang, Xintong Ren, Injae Shin, Juyoung Yoon
SJR Q1Chemical Society Reviews

Reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen (RNS) species cause oxidative and nitrosative stresses, respectively. These stresses are implicated not only in diverse physiological processes but also in various pathological processes, including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. In addition, some ROS and RNS in the environment are pollutants that threaten human health. As a consequence of these effects, sensitive methods, which can be employed to selectively monitor ROS and RNS in live cells, tissues a

SpectroscopyChemistry
3
Review|967 citations·2011
Fluorescent and luminescent probes for detection of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species
Xiaoqiang Chen, Xizhe Tian, Injae Shin, Juyoung Yoon
SJR Q1Chemical Society Reviews

Oxidative and nitrosative stress induced by ROS/RNS play crucial roles in a wide range of physiological processes and are also implicated in various diseases, including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Sensitive and selective methods for the detection of ROS/RNS based on fluorescent and luminescent probes are of great use in monitoring the in vivo production of these species and elucidating their biological functions. This critical review highlights recent advances that have been made in

SpectroscopyChemistry
4
Review|959 citations·2019
Synthetic ratiometric fluorescent probes for detection of ions
Sang-Hyun Park, Nahyun Kwon, Jee-Hyeon Lee, Juyoung Yoon, Injae Shin
SJR Q1Chemical Society Reviews

Metal cations and anions are essential for versatile physiological processes. Dysregulation of specific ion levels in living organisms is known to have an adverse effect on normal biological events. Owing to the pathophysiological significance of ions, sensitive and selective methods to detect these species in biological systems are in high demand. Because they can be used in methods for precise and quantitative analysis of ions, organic dye-based ratiometric fluorescent probes have been extensi

SpectroscopyChemistry
5
Article|690 citations·2009
Zn2+-Triggered Amide Tautomerization Produces a Highly Zn2+-Selective, Cell-Permeable, and Ratiometric Fluorescent Sensor
Zhaochao Xu, Kyung-Hwa Baek, Hana Kim, Jingnan Cui, Xuhong Qian, David R. Spring, Injae Shin, Juyoung Yoon
SJR Q1Journal of the American Chemical Society

It is still a significant challenge to develop a Zn(2+)-selective fluorescent sensor with the ability to exclude the interference of some heavy and transition metal (HTM) ions such as Fe(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), Cu(2+), Cd(2+), and Hg(2+). Herein, we report a novel amide-containing receptor for Zn(2+), combined with a naphthalimide fluorophore, termed ZTRS. The fluorescence, absorption detection, NMR, and IR studies indicated that ZTRS bound Zn(2+) in an imidic acid tautomeric form of the amide/di-2

SpectroscopyChemistry
6
Article|416 citations·2014
Synthetic ion transporters can induce apoptosis by facilitating chloride anion transport into cells
Sung‐Kyun Ko, Sung Kuk Kim, Andrew I. Share, Vincent M. Lynch, Jin‐hong Park, W. Namkung, Wim Van Rossom, Nathalie Busschaert, Philip A. Gale, Jonathan L. Sessler, Injae Shin
SJR Q1Nature Chemistry
SpectroscopyChemistry
7
Review|326 citations·2022
Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence-emitting small organic molecules for cancer imaging and therapy
Hui Li, Yujun Kim, Hyoje Jung, Ji Young Hyun, Injae Shin
SJR Q1Chemical Society Reviews

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorophores have unique features that endow them with several advantages over conventional shorter wavelength emitting dyes. As a result, they have been widely utilized as fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging agents, as well as photodynamic and photothermal therapeutic agents. However, non-targeting NIR fluorescence-emitting organic molecules have the drawback of low selectivity toward tumors, which potentially results in severe side effects caused by damage to normal tiss

Biomedical EngineeringEngineering
8
Article|289 citations·2010
A thiol-specific fluorescent probe and its application for bioimaging
Xiaoqiang Chen, Sung‐Kyun Ko, Min Jung Kim, Injae Shin, Juyoung Yoon
SJR Q1Chemical CommunicationsOA

A fluorescent probe based on fluorescein displays an excellent selectivity and sensitivity for thiols and its application for bioimaging is described.

BiochemistryBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
9
Article|274 citations·2009
A Rhodamine−Hydroxamic Acid-Based Fluorescent Probe for Hypochlorous Acid and Its Applications to Biological Imagings
Young-Keun Yang, Hyungseoph Jason Cho, Ji-Hyun Lee, Injae Shin, Jinsung Tae
SJR Q1Organic Letters

A new rhodamine-hydroxamic acid-based fluorescent chemosensor for the rapid detection of HOCl in aqueous media was developed. The system, which utilizes an irreversible HOCl-promoted oxidation reaction, responds instantaneously at room temperature with linear proportionality to the amount of HOCl. This system is highly selective for HOCl over other reactive oxygen species (ROS) and highly sensitive in aqueous solutions. Biological imaging studies using living cells and organisms (A549 cells and

SpectroscopyChemistry
10
Review|248 citations·2011
Zebrafish as a good vertebrate model for molecular imaging using fluorescent probes
Sung‐Kyun Ko, Xiaoqiang Chen, Juyoung Yoon, Injae Shin
SJR Q1Chemical Society Reviews

Fluorescent probes have been used extensively to monitor biomolecules and biologically relevant species in vitro and in vivo. A new trend in this area that has been stimulated by the desire to obtain more detailed information about the biological effects of analytes is the change from live cell to whole animal fluorescent imaging. Zebrafish has received great attention for live vertebrate imaging due to several noticeable advantages. In this tutorial review, recent advances in live zebrafish ima

Cell BiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
11
Review|242 citations·2012
Carbohydrate microarrays
Sungjin Park, Jeffrey C. Gildersleeve, Ola Blixt, Injae Shin
SJR Q1Chemical Society ReviewsOA

In the last decade, carbohydrate microarrays have been core technologies for analyzing carbohydrate-mediated recognition events in a high-throughput fashion. A number of methods have been exploited for immobilizing glycans on the solid surface in a microarray format. This microarray-based technology has been widely employed for rapid analysis of the glycan binding properties of lectins and antibodies, the quantitative measurements of glycan-protein interactions, detection of cells and pathogens,

Molecular BiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
12
Article|242 citations·2008
Boronic acid-linked fluorescent and colorimetric probes for copper ions
K.M.K. Swamy, Sung‐Kyun Ko, Soo Kyung Kwon, Ha Na Lee, Chun Mao, Joung-Min Kim, Keun-Hyeung Lee, Jinheung Kim, Injae Shin, Juyoung Yoon
SJR Q1Chemical Communications

The first examples of boronic acid-linked fluorescent and colorimetric chemosensors for copper ions are reported; the monoboronic acid-conjugated rhodamine probe displays a highly selective fluorescent enhancement with Cu2+ among the various metal ions whereas the fluorescence of the bisboronic acid-conjugated fluorescein probe is selectively quenched by Cu2+, probably by way of a PET mechanism.

SpectroscopyChemistry
13
Article|239 citations·2012
Recognition and sensing of various species using boronic acid derivatives
Zhiqian Guo, Injae Shin, Juyoung Yoon
SJR Q1Chemical Communications

A boronic acid moiety can bind to nucleophilic species, such as fluoride ions and 1,2-diols, and arylboronates are converted to the corresponding phenols by treatment with hydrogen peroxide. Based on these reactivity profiles of boron compounds, a variety of boronic acid and boronate-based fluorescent chemosensors have been developed for detecting biologically relevant species. This feature article highlights recent advances that have been made in the development of chemosensors of these types f

SpectroscopyChemistry
14
Article|170 citations·2010
Fluorescent detection of palladium species with an O-propargylated fluorescein
Mithun Santra, Sung‐Kyun Ko, Injae Shin, Kyo Han Ahn
SJR Q1Chemical CommunicationsOA

A fluorescein-based fluorescent probe displays fluorescence enhancement for palladium species in the typical oxidation states of 0, +2 and +4 and is applied to monitor accumulated palladium in living organisms.

SpectroscopyChemistry
15
Article|168 citations·2012
A cyanine-based fluorescent sensor for detecting endogenous zinc ions in live cells and organisms
Zhiqian Guo, Gun-Hee Kim, Injae Shin, Juyoung Yoon
SJR Q1Biomaterials
SpectroscopyChemistry

Research Areas

Molecular BiologySpectroscopyOrganic ChemistryMaterials ChemistryEpidemiologyBiochemistry

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