Ji Youn Lee

Asparaginyl endopeptidase, or legumain, is a lysosomal cysteine protease that was originally identified in plants and later found to be involved in antigen presentation in higher eukaryotes. Legumain is also up-regulated in a number of human cancers, and recent studies suggest that it may play important functional roles in the process of tumorigenesis. However, detailed functional studies in relevant animal models of human disease have been hindered by the lack of suitably selective small molecu

Mitochondria are multifunctional subcellular organelles whose operations encompass energy production, signal transduction, and metabolic regulation. Given their wide range of roles, they have been studied extensively as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of various diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases. Mitochondrion-mediated pathways have been identified as promising targets in the context of these diseases. However, the delivery of specific probes a

With an increasing use of quantum dots (QDs) in many applications, their potential hazard is of growing concern. However, little is known about their ecotoxicity, especially in vivo. In the present study, we employed freshwater macroinvertebrate, Daphnia magna, to evaluate toxicity characteristics of cadmium selenide/zinc selenide (CdSe/ZnSe) in relation to surface coatings, e.g., mercaptopropionic acid QD ((MPA)QD), and gum arabic/tri-n-octylphosphine oxide QD ((GA/TOPO)QD), and light condition

Glutaminyl cyclase (QC) has been implicated in the formation of toxic amyloid plaques by generating the N -terminal pyroglutamate of β-amyloid peptides (pGlu-Aβ) and thus may participate in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We designed a library of glutamyl cyclase (QC) inhibitors based on the proposed binding mode of the preferred substrate, Aβ 3E−42 . An in vitro structure–activity relationship study identified several excellent QC inhibitors demonstrating 5- to 40-fold increases i

We have synthesized the first steroid hormone-MR contrast agent conjugate designed to track the cell signaling process upon binding to a gene switch system. The derivative has a high relaxivity and when tested in vitro is active as a progesterone antagonist (RU-486). By combining a transcriptional system and a noninvasive imaging technology, such as MRI, it would be a powerful tool to research the cell signaling pathway in vivo.

Mitochondria-specific delivery methods offer a valuable tool for studying mitochondria-related diseases and provide breakthroughs in therapeutic development. Although several small-molecule and peptide-based transporters have been developed, peptoids, proteolysis-resistant peptidomimetics, are a promising alternative to current approaches. We designed a series of amphipathic peptoids and evaluated their cellular uptake and mitochondrial localization. Two peptoids with cyclohexyl residues demonst

the dearomative addition of sulfur ylides to activated N-heteroarenes. A series of biologically significant molecular skeletons was obtained by the direct cyclopropanation of quinolinium zwitterions. Furthermore, a straightforward synthetic route to optically enriched cyclopropane-fused heterocycles was developed using sulfur ylides as chiral nucleophiles in the 1,4-dearomative reaction.