Jong Seung Kim

Coumarins are a very large family of compounds containing the unique 2<i>H</i>-chromen-2-one motif, as it is known according to IUPAC nomenclature. Coumarin derivatives are widely found in nature, especially in plants and are constituents of several essential oils. Up to now, thousands of coumarin derivatives have been isolated from nature or produced by chemists. More recently, the coumarin platform has been widely adopted in the design of small-molecule fluorescent chemosensors because of its

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Optical techniques using developed laser and optical devices have made a profound impact on modern medicine, with "biomedical optics" becoming an emerging field. Sophisticated technologies have been developed in cancer nanomedicine, such as photothermal therapy and photodynamic therapy, among others. However, single-mode phototherapy cannot completely treat persistent tumors, with the challenges of relapse or metastasis remaining; therefore, combinatorial strategies are being developed. In this

Protons play crucial roles in many physiological and pathological processes, such as receptor-mediated signal transduction, ion transport, endocytosis, homeostasis, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. The urgent demand for pH imaging and measurement in biological systems has incited the development of fluorescent pH probes. Numerous fluorescent probes have been reported, but many lack the abilities needed for biological applications. Hence, the development of new pH probes with better biocompatib

In this tutorial review, we describe the current state of the art in water sensors and provide an overview of the major advances made in this field post 2000. The field is currently still in its early development stages and subject to continuous improvements, and the current work provides a structured approach describing different sensing mechanisms and potential future applications associated with each of these. With these developments and their potential implications for the diverse scientific

Abnormal microenvironments (viscosity, polarity, pH, etc.) have been verified to be closely associated with numerous pathophysiological processes such as inflammation, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. As a result, deep insights into these pathophysiological microenvironments are particularly beneficial for clinical diagnosis and treatment. However, the monitoring of pathophysiological microenvironments is unattainable by the traditional clinical diagnostic techniques such as magnetic reso

Calix[<i>n</i>]arenes (<i>n</i> = 4, 5, 6, 8) are "chalicelike" phenol-based macrocycles that are among the most fascinating and highly studied scaffolds in supramolecular chemistry. This stems from the functional and tunable diversity at both their upper and lower rims, their preorganized nonpolar cavities and preorganized ion-binding sites, and their well-defined conformations. Conjugation of calixarene scaffolds with various fluorogenic groups has led to the development of smart fluorescent p

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been extensively investigated for decades for tumor treatment because of its non-invasiveness, spatiotemporal selectivity, lower side-effects, and immune activation ability. It can be a promising treatment modality in several medical fields, including oncology, immunology, urology, dermatology, ophthalmology, cardiology, pneumology, and dentistry. Nevertheless, the clinical application of PDT is largely restricted by the drawbacks of traditional photosensitizers, l

<i>In vivo</i> imaging in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1000-1700 nm), which enables us to look deeply into living subjects, is producing marvelous opportunities for biomedical research and clinical applications. Very recently, there has been an upsurge of interdisciplinary studies focusing on developing versatile types of inorganic/organic fluorophores that can be used for noninvasive NIR-IIa/IIb imaging (NIR-IIa, 1300-1400 nm; NIR-IIb, 1500-1700 nm) with near-zero tissue autofluores

Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a chronic, occlusive cerebrovascular disease characterized by progressive stenosis at the terminal portion of the internal carotid artery and an abnormal vascular network at the base of the brain. Although its etiology remains unknown, recent genetic studies identified RNF213 in the 17q25-ter region as an important susceptibility gene of MMD among East Asian populations. Possibly because of genetic differences, MMD is relatively common in people living in East Asian cou

Despite significant advances, the therapeutic impact of photodynamic therapy is still substantially hampered by the restricted penetration depth of light and the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated toxicity, which is impeded by the shorter effective half-life and radius of ROS produced during treatment. Sonodynamic therapy (SDT), on the other hand, provides unrivalled benefits in deep-seated tumour ablation due to its deep penetration depth and not totally ROS-dependent toxicity, exhibiting e

Phosphorene, also known as single- or few-layer black phosphorus (FLBP), is a new member of the two-dimensional (2D) material family and has attracted significant attention in recent years for applications in optoelectronics, energy storage and biomedicine due to its unique physicochemical properties and excellent biocompatibility. FLBP is regarded as a potential biological imaging agent for cancer diagnosis due to its intrinsic fluorescence (FL) and photoacoustic (PA) properties and negligible

The advances in genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics have directed the development of new anticancer agents to reduce drug abuse and increase safe and specific drug treatment. Theranostics, combining therapy and diagnosis, is an appealing approach for chemotherapy in medicine which exhibits improved biodistribution, selective cancer targeting ability, reduced toxicity, masked drug efficacy, and minimum side effects. The role of diagnosis tools in theranostics is to collect the information of