%43%68%65%6d%69%73%74%72%79
-
KAIST Controls the Rotation Direction of Light Without Complex New Materials
A new pathway has opened for controlling the rotation direction of light simply by changing how molecules are arranged, without having to synthesize complex new materials. Circularly polarized light is a special form of light that travels while rotating like a pinwheel either to the left or to the right. Because different rotation directions can carry different information, it is drawing attention as a key light source for next-generation displays, optical communications, and security technologies. KAIST researchers have developed a platform technology that arranges symmetric molecules into “microscopic pinwheels,” enabling circularly polarized light with a desired rotation direction.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on August 14 that a research team led by Professor Dong Ki Yoon from the Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with researchers from Chungnam National University, Ajou University, Yonsei University, and Japan’s RIKEN, has developed a technology that spatially confines symmetric non-chiral liquid crystal molecules and applies an electric field to form micrometer-scale chiral pinwheel structures, then permanently replicates them onto polymer nanofibers.
Chirality refers to the property of an object whose mirror image cannot be perfectly superimposed on the original, like a person’s left and right hands. Chirality is a key property not only of biological molecules such as proteins and DNA, but also of optical materials used in next-generation displays, optical sensors, and optical communications.
Until now, producing chiral optical materials has generally required the complex synthesis of molecules with asymmetric structures or the addition of large amounts of chiral substances. This has made fabrication complicated, limited the range of usable materials, and made it difficult to realize chiral structures with the same handedness over a large area.
To address this challenge, the research team proposed a new approach based on the idea that “structure creates function.”
The team applied to molecules the same principle by which the same sheet of paper can form either a clockwise or counterclockwise pinwheel depending on how it is folded. They focused on the fact that even symmetric molecules can form structures with different handedness depending on how they assemble.
The researchers first induced rod-shaped molecules to self-assemble into microscopic pinwheel-like structures. They then added an extremely small amount of chiral additive, less than 1% of the total material, to guide all of the pinwheels to face the same direction. The team then successfully replicated this structure onto polymer nanofibers.
When a conventional luminescent material was coated onto this structure, circularly polarized light rotating in opposite directions was emitted depending not on the luminescent material itself, but on the direction of the pinwheel structure. Circularly polarized light is a special form of light that rotates to the left or right as it travels, and because each rotation direction can carry different information, it can be used in next-generation displays, optical communications, and anti-counterfeiting technologies.
In other words, the study showed that the properties of light can be controlled simply by changing the structure on which a light-emitting material is placed, rather than by changing the light-emitting material itself. Put simply, just as the same LEGO blocks can form completely different shapes depending on how they are assembled, the same molecules can produce different optical properties depending only on how they are arranged.
Professor Dong Ki Yoon said, “The key point of this study is that we controlled the rotation direction of light not through the complex chemical structure of chiral molecules, but only through the way molecules are arranged,” adding, “This work presents a new optical material design principle that can be applied to next-generation displays, AR and VR optical devices, polarization sensors, and optical communications without the need to develop complex new materials.”
Jeong Yeon Han, the first author and a Ph.D. candidate, explained, “In conventional approaches, left-handed and right-handed structures tended to form together, canceling out chiral properties. In this study, however, we succeeded in aligning the structures in a single direction over a large area by designing an extremely small amount of additive to select only one rotation direction.”
This study was led by Ph.D. candidate Jeong Yeon Han as the first author, and the research results were published in the international journal Nature Communications on August 05.
Paper title: Microchiral pinwheel arrays based on achiral molecules,
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-76089-z
Authors: Jeong Yeon Han (first author), Won Kyung Park, Byeongil Noh, Fumito Araoka, Sungwook Jung, Byeong Hak Jhun, Youngmin You, Yoonsu Park, Kyung Jin Lee*, Jung-Moo Heo*, and Dong Ki Yoon* (*corresponding authors)
This research was supported by the Technology Innovation Program of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the InnoCORE Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the National Research Foundation of Korea.
2026.08.14 View 290 -
KAIST identifies a molecular “switch” that activates cell growth signaling, suggesting a potential basis for next-generation anticancer therapy
Cells carry their own growth switches. When enough nutrients—amino acids in particular—are available, cells flip this switch on and begin to grow. Researchers at KAIST and Yonsei University have now uncovered the molecular mechanism by which amino acid signals activate this cellular growth switch. The findings are expected to open a new avenue for anticancer therapies that target abnormal growth signaling in tumor cells.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on July 26 that a research team led by Professors Hee-Sung Park and Jin Young Kang from the Department of Chemistry, working with Professor Sunghoon Kim's team from Yonsei University, has identified a molecular mechanism that links amino acid stimulation to mTORC1-dependent growth signaling.
Cells continually monitor whether enough amino acids—the basic building blocks of proteins—are available in their surroundings, and adjust their growth, protein synthesis, and energy use accordingly. Central to this process is mTORC1 (mammalian Target of Rapamycin Complex 1), a protein complex that functions as the cell's growth switch.
mTORC1 promotes cell growth, protein synthesis, and metabolism when nutrients and energy are abundant. But when mTORC1 becomes excessively active, cells can grow and proliferate beyond what is needed—a pattern of dysregulation observed in numerous cancers. For this reason, mTORC1 has long been considered a prime target for anticancer drug development. Exactly how cells detect external nutrient cues and translate them into mTORC1 activation, however, has remained incompletely understood.
The research team focused on the multi-tRNA synthetase complex (MSC), a large protein assembly composed of multiple aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and scaffold proteins. While aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are best known for their essential role in protein synthesis – attaching specific amino acids to their cognate tRNAs – the team showed that, in response to amino acid stimulation the MSC releases LARS1, thereby linking nutrient availability to growth signaling.
The key player within the MSC turned out to be a protein called LARS1 (leucyl-tRNA synthetase 1), an enzyme that attaches leucine to its corresponding tRNA and also functions as an intracellular leucine sensor. When cells receive a signal that nutrients are sufficient, LARS1 undergoes phosphorylation—a modification in which a small chemical tag is attached to a protein, altering its function or binding behavior.
The relationship can be pictured this way: the MSC is a control center where multiple proteins wait on standby, and LARS1 is the field agent dispatched to flip on the growth switch. When nutrients become abundant, LARS1 receives a phosphorylation "deployment signal," dissociates from IARS1, the protein that anchors LARS1 to the MSC, and is thereby released from the complex. The freed LARS1 then goes on to activate mTORC1.
In other words, when nutrients are scarce, LARS1 stays bound within the MSC and the growth signal remains off. Once nutrients become sufficient, LARS1 is released from the MSC and switches on mTORC1.
To investigate the structural basis of this process, the team used cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), a technique that visualizes protein complexes in three dimensions in near-atomic resolution by rapidly freezing samples at extremely low temperatures. This allowed the researchers to determine how LARS1 and IARS1 bind to each other and to structurally explain how phosphorylation could disrupt their interaction.
The results showed that LARS1 and IARS1 are normally bound tightly, but amino acid stimulation induces the phosphorylation of LARS1, weakening its interaction with IARS1. This allows LARS1 to dissociate from the MSC and activate mTORC1.
The researchers also engineered phosphomimetic LARS1 variants—mutant proteins designed to imitate the phosphorylated state—and found that these variants substantially enhanced mTORC1 activity. This confirmed that the phosphorylation of LARS1 functions as the key molecular switch converting a nutrient signal into a cell growth signal.
The significance of this study lies in mapping, in concrete molecular detail, how cells sense amino acids and use that information to activate their growth switch. In particular, the study revealed that, upon receiving nutrient signals, the MSC—a complex involved in protein synthesis—releases its constituent protein LARS1, which then activates cellular growth signaling.
Some existing anticancer drugs work by directly inhibiting mTORC1, the cell's growth switch. However, because mTORC1 is also required for normal cellular growth and metabolism, its direct inhibition may also affect normal cells.
The research team expects that further identifying the kinase responsible for phosphorylating LARS1, along with its regulatory mechanism, could enable a more precise anticancer strategy—one that intercepts the growth signal further upstream, before it reaches mTORC1, rather than blocking mTORC1 itself.
The study was co-first-authored by Youjin Kim and Joo-Chan Kim from KAIST's Department of Chemistry and was published online in Nature Communications on June 11.
Paper title: Cryo-EM structure of the LARS1:IARS1 complex reveals a nutrient-responsive switch controlling mTORC1 signaling
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-74085-x
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (grant nos. RS-2026-25482352 to H.S.P., RS-2024-00344154 to J.Y.K., and NRF-2021R1A3B1076605 to S.K.) and PNCC (grant no. 160183).
2026.07.27 View 964 -
KAIST Develops a Molecular Platform for the Selective Control of Oxygen Reaction Pathways
Controlling how oxygen reacts is important for improving technologies such as batteries, fuel cells, and environmentally sustainable chemical processes. A KAIST research team has developed a new molecular system that can selectively switch the pathway through which electrons are transferred during oxygen activation. The findings are expected to provide a fundamental design principle for next-generation catalysts and energy-conversion technologies.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on the 22nd of July that a research team led by Professor Seung Jun Hwang from the Department of Chemistry has developed a molecular system capable of directing oxygen activation along a selected electron-transfer pathway. By combining germanium with a molecular framework that can store and transfer electrons, the team established a design principle for selectively switching oxygen activation between two- and four-electron pathways.
Catalysts for controlling oxygen reactions have traditionally been developed around transition-metal centers such as iron, cobalt, and nickel. Germanium, by contrast, is a main-group element in the same group of the periodic table as silicon and has generally been considered less suitable for reactions requiring the coordinated transfer of several electrons.
To overcome this limitation, the research team combined germanium with a redox-active ligand, a molecular framework capable of storing, accepting, and transferring electrons. The ligand serves as an electron reservoir and cooperates with the germanium center, allowing the entire molecular structure to participate in multielectron reactions.
When oxygen reacts, the products and reaction outcomes depend on whether two or four electrons are transferred. In general, two-electron oxygen reduction produces hydrogen peroxide, while four-electron reduction produces water. Selectively controlling these pathways is therefore an important challenge in the development of batteries, fuel cells, and greener chemical catalysts.
The study presents a rare example of a main-group molecular system in which two- and four-electron reactivity can be selectively accessed within the same underlying molecular framework. This approach broadens the range of elements that may be considered in catalyst design and provides an alternative strategy to relying exclusively on transition metals.
The team also succeeded in isolating and analyzing a germanium compound representing the two-electron stage of the reaction, which they stabilized by attaching a methyl group to the germanium complex. Remarkably, the germanium atom in this compound could both donate and accept electrons, providing an important clue to how the system controls different reaction pathways.
The team also confirmed the practical potential of the new system. Under mild, light-free conditions, the germanium complex removed halogen atoms such as bromine and chlorine from organic compounds and regenerated alkenes (organic compounds containing a carbon-carbon double bond), which are widely used as raw materials for pharmaceuticals, plastics, and other chemical products. These results suggest that useful chemical feedstocks could be produced through simpler and potentially more energy-efficient processes.
“We expect these findings to inform the development of next-generation catalysts for energy conversion and to contribute to more selective and efficient chemical processes.” said Professor Hwang.
The study was conducted by Sung Gyu Kim and Jinrok Oh, currently postdoctoral researchers in the KAIST Department of Chemistry, and Dae Eui Choi, a student in the combined master’s and doctoral program in the Department of Chemistry at POSTECH. The results were published online in the international journal Chem on July 6.
Paper title: Germanium Ligand Redox Cooperativity: A Key to Ambiphilicity and Switchable Two- and Four-Electron Transfer
DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2026.103127
This work was supported by National Research Foundation of Korea grants funded by the Korean government through the Ministry of Science and ICT (NRF-2021R1C1C1010220 and RS-2025-02216980), and by the Samsung Science and Technology Foundation under Project No. SSTF-BA2101-09. Sung Gyu Kim received research fellowship support from the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea, funded by the Ministry of Education (RS-2024-00415390).
2026.07.22 View 891 -
KAIST: Dementia-Causing Substance Turns On a Therapeutic “Switch”
A substance that worsens dementia has become a “switch” that initiates treatment. KAIST researchers have developed a new therapeutic approach that uses hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), a reactive oxygen species that damages cells and increases in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, to activate a drug selectively in diseased brain tissue. The team also confirmed improvements in cognitive function through animal experiments, presenting a new possibility for next-generation dementia treatment.
KAIST announced on the 2nd that a research team led by Professor Mi Hee Lim of the Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with Professor Mingeun Kim of Chonnam National University, Dr. Chul-Ho Lee and Dr. Kyoung-Shim Kim of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, and Dr. Young-Ho Lee of the Korea Basic Science Institute, has developed a prodrug that is activated selectively in the diseased brain in Alzheimer’s disease and confirmed its therapeutic effects through animal experiments.
A prodrug is a drug that initially has minimal therapeutic effect but is converted into an active therapeutic agent only under specific conditions inside the body. In this study, the prodrug was designed to be activated only when it encounters hydrogen peroxide, which increases in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, allowing it to function as a “smart therapeutic agent” that selectively acts in diseased brain tissue.
In the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients, hydrogen peroxide, which damages cells, is elevated above normal levels. Until now, it has generally been regarded only as a harmful substance that should be removed. However, the research team devised a method to use it instead as a signal that activates a drug.
The prodrugs developed by the research team, BE-1 and BE-2, are designed to remain minimally reactive in a healthy brain. However, when they encounter hydrogen peroxide in a brain affected by dementia, they are converted into active therapeutic compounds, AP-1 and AP-2. Through this process, they reduce reactive oxygen species, including hydrogen peroxide, while also preventing amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides — peptides known as a major cause of dementia that accumulate in the brain and damage nerve cells — from aggregating into highly toxic clumps.
Using advanced analytical techniques, the research team confirmed that the activated drug alters the morphology of amyloid beta aggregates and suppresses their growth into large aggregates.
These effects were also confirmed in Alzheimer’s disease mouse models. The drug crossed the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a protective barrier that controls whether substances in the blood can enter the brain, and was converted into the therapeutic compound inside the diseased brain. In mice that received long-term drug administration, oxidative stress in the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory, was reduced, and amyloid beta accumulation in the brain also decreased. In behavioral experiments assessing the ability to recognize new objects and navigate mazes, cognitive function was also found to improve.
This study is significant in that the drug was designed to operate only where needed by using the environment of the diseased brain itself. This approach presents a new strategy for dementia treatment that can enhance therapeutic efficacy while reducing side effects, and it is expected to be applicable to the treatment of other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease.
Professor Mi Hee Lim of KAIST’s Department of Chemistry said, “This study is meaningful in that hydrogen peroxide, which had previously been regarded only as something to be eliminated, was used as a signal to activate a drug. We expect this strategy, which activates drugs in diseased tissue, to become a new platform for treating complex diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease more safely and effectively.”
This study was co-first-authored by Jimin Lee and Eunseo Hong, Ph.D. candidates in KAIST’s Department of Chemistry, and was published online on May 31, 2026, in the international journal Small (Impact Factor: 12.1, top 10% in the field of chemistry).
※ Paper title: A Prodrug Approach for Activity-Based Chemical Modulation toward Multiple Pathological Targets in Alzheimer’s Disease
DOI: 10.1002/smll.74013
This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea’s Leader Researcher Program, Global Leading Research Center Program, Sejong Science Fellowship, Graduate Student Research Encouragement Program, and institutional programs of KRIBB and KBSI.
2026.07.03 View 1774 -
KAIST Develops Hydrogel Material with Improved Skin Adhesion and Controllable Degradation Rate
<(From Left) Researcher Han-Yeol Yang, Professor Haeshin Lee>
Could wound healing dressings adhere better, and drug delivery patches become more sophisticated? A KAIST research team has developed a technology that leverages natural ingredients derived from plants to increase the strength of seaweed-based hydrogel (a gel material that contains a large amount of water while maintaining its shape) by more than fivefold, while also controlling its adhesiveness and degradation rate.
KAIST announced on June 9th that a research team led by Professor Haeshin Lee from the Department of Chemistry has developed a new material design strategy that utilizes tannic acid—a type of polyphenol, which is a natural antioxidant abundant in tea and fruits—to enhance the mechanical strength and adhesiveness of seaweed-derived hydrogel and to control its degradation rate.
Hydrogel is a high-moisture gel material used in contact lenses, acne patches, mask packs, and wound healing dressings. Because it can adhere closely to the skin while holding drugs or active ingredients, it is being utilized in various bio and healthcare fields, such as drug delivery systems (materials that effectively deliver drugs to desired sites), wound dressings (medical dressings that protect wounds and aid healing), tissue engineering scaffolds (structures that help regenerate artificial tissue), and cosmetic materials.
Among various hydrogel materials, the research team focused on 'κ-Carrageenan'. κ-Carrageenan is a natural polymer extracted from red seaweed (rhodophytes) such as agar-agar, and it is a familiar food ingredient used to increase the viscosity and maintain the shape of jellies and sauces. However, there were limitations to improving the performance of hydrogels made with κ-Carrageenan. The κ-Carrageenan molecule contains many structures called sulfate groups, which create intermolecular repulsion—much like magnets of the same pole pushing each other away—and prevent the formation of a dense structure. For this reason, it was difficult to increase the strength and adhesiveness of the hydrogel or to adjust the degradation rate to a desired level.
To solve this problem, the research team focused on finding a natural substance that could effectively interact with the sulfate groups. As a result, they determined that tannic acid, a natural polyphenol abundant in tea and fruits, could be a promising candidate.
Polyphenols are natural ingredients produced by plants to protect themselves from external environments such as ultraviolet rays or pests, and they have the characteristic of being able to bind with multiple substances simultaneously. In particular, tannic acid has multiple binding sites (galloyl groups), so it was expected to interact strongly with the sulfate groups of κ-Carrageenan and connect the molecules together. The research team believed that this characteristic could be utilized to reinforce the hydrogel structure.
As a result of the study, it was confirmed that the sulfate group, which was previously considered a factor hindering hydrogel formation, actually acts as a core binding site with tannic acid. In other words, the structure that was previously considered a "weakness" played a role in making the hydrogel even firmer upon meeting tannic acid.
< Research Image Related to Polyphenol Interactions >
In fact, the storage modulus (an index representing the firmness and elasticity of a gel) of the κ-Carrageenan hydrogel with added tannic acid was approximately 1,632 Pa, showing an improvement of more than fivefold compared to the pure κ-Carrageenan hydrogel (approximately 294 Pa). This means that the hydrogel can maintain its shape more stably even under external pressure or deformation, demonstrating that it can increase the durability and usability of wound healing dressings or drug delivery patches.
In addition, the research team confirmed that tannic acid stably reinforces the internal network structure (gel network) of the already formed hydrogel, regardless of the point in time when the tannic acid is added. This implies that tannic acid connects molecules at multiple points, allowing the internal structure of the hydrogel to remain consistently firm.
Notably, the research team succeeded in implementing rapid degradability and strong adhesiveness simultaneously. In experiments simulating the human stomach and intestinal environments, the hydrogel containing tannic acid degraded relatively quickly while adhering strongly to the skin and rough surfaces. This means that wound healing dressings will not easily fall off during use but can naturally degrade after completing their role, and drug delivery patches can be utilized to stably deliver drugs for a desired period.
This study is meaningful in that it presented a design principle capable of simultaneously controlling the strength, adhesiveness, and degradation rate of hydrogel using only food-grade natural ingredients without complex chemical synthesis processes. The research team expects this technology to be utilized in various bio and healthcare fields, such as capsules and coating materials for food and functional foods, skin-adhering cosmetics and skincare products, wound dressings, drug delivery patches, and tissue engineering scaffolds.
<Research Image (AI-Generated)>
Professor Haeshin Lee said, "This study is an example showing that the mechanical strength, adhesiveness, and degradation behavior of hydrogel can be designed together using only naturally derived materials," adding, "It can be expanded into a safer and simpler natural polymer gel platform in the fields of food, cosmetics, and biomaterials."
This study, in which PhD student Han-Yeol Yang participated as the first author, was published on April 21st in 'Biomimetics', an international academic journal in the field of biomimetics. ※ Paper Title: Adhesive κ-Carrageenan Hydrogels by Polyphenol Intervention, DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics11040290
Meanwhile, this research was conducted with research funding support from Polyphenol Factory Inc., a faculty-led startup enterprise of KAIST.
2026.06.09 View 2170 -
Professor Jihyeon Yeom Selected as Early Career Advisory Board Member for Top Chemistry and Materials Journal
< Professor Jihyeon Yeom >
KAIST announced on the 13th that Professor Jihyeon Yeom from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering has been selected as a member of the Early Career Advisory Board (ECAB) for Chemical Reviews, widely considered the world's most prestigious academic journal in the field of chemistry.
Published by the American Chemical Society (ACS), Chemical Reviews is a flagship review journal that comprehensively organizes and surveys the most influential research achievements across all areas of chemistry and materials science. It is evaluated as a top-tier international journal in the field.
The journal boasts an Impact Factor (IF) of 56, ranking it among the highest of all scientific journals worldwide. Its authority is particularly significant because it is a review journal that analyzes global research trends to suggest future academic directions, rather than simply publishing individual experimental data.
The ECAB, which began its term in January 2026, consists of 10 researchers selected from among rising global science leaders. Candidates are evaluated based on academic originality, research impact, and contributions to the scientific community. Members provide advisory roles for the journal's academic direction and strategic planning, contributing to the discovery of next-generation research trends and the expansion of global research networks.
This selection highlights that Professor Yeom’s research achievements are receiving high international acclaim.
Professor Yeom is conducting research on applying "chirality"—a property where objects, like DNA or proteins, are mirror images of each other but cannot be perfectly superimposed—to nanomaterials. Her core work involves precisely controlling atomic arrangements to realize artificial materials that can interact naturally with biological signals.
In particular, she is gaining attention for developing next-generation smart healthcare technology that combines light-responsive chiral materials with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect and analyze minute changes in the human body in real time. Professor Yeom explained that these chiral characteristics offer new possibilities for expanding information transmission and processing capabilities beyond simple structural properties.
Building on this foundation, she plans to expand her research into various fields, including precision medical diagnostic technology, next-generation optoelectronic devices utilizing circularly polarized light, and AI-based platforms.
Professor Yeom has established herself as a global leader in chiral materials research, recently publishing results in world-renowned journals such as Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, ACS Nano, and Accounts of Chemical Research.
"Chirality is not just a structural characteristic, but a new degree of freedom that expands the functional and information-processing capabilities of matter," said Professor Yeom. "I plan to expand my research into chiral-based electronic and optical devices, bio-diagnostic technologies, and AI-based spectroscopic platforms in the future."
This ECAB selection once again demonstrates the research competitiveness and international standing of the KAIST Department of Materials Science and Engineering. It is expected to further strengthen KAIST's role as a global research hub in the field of next-generation materials research.
2026.03.13 View 2349 -
Reborn as an Artificial Enzyme to Protect the Environment and Health
<(From left) Dr. Neetu Singh, Ph.D candidate Haneul Im, Dr. Seongyeon Kwon (IBS) (Back) Professor YunJung Baek>
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), which we consume, acts as an important coenzyme that helps food convert into energy within the body. Korean researchers have successfully created a new artificial enzyme for the first time in the world by combining this riboflavin (flavin) with metal, adding the metal's reaction-controlling ability to riboflavin's electron-transfer function. This technology is expected to operate more precisely and stably than natural enzymes, demonstrating potential for use in various fields such as energy production, environmental purification, and new drug development.
The research team led by Professor Yunjung Baek of KAIST Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with Dr. Seongyeon Kwon of the Institute for Basic Science, announced on the 11th of November that they have succeeded in synthesizing a new molecular system that allows flavin to bind with metal ions.
Until now, scientists have long been unable to realize "flavin combined with metal" because flavin has a structural limitation—a complex ring structure entangled with nitrogen and oxygen—which makes it difficult for a metal to selectively bind.
To overcome this limitation, the research team designed a binding site for the metal within the flavin at the molecular level and applied a metallochemical approach that precisely arranges the ligand structure that traps the metal.
Through this, they successfully and stably synthesized the flavin-metal complex by delicately controlling the electronic and spatial interactions around the metal.
This achievement is the first case that integrates flavin's inherent properties and metal's reactivity into a single system, opening up the possibility for the development of 'metal-based artificial enzymes' that finely tune chemical reactions.
Professor Yunjung Baek stated, "We have moved beyond the limitations of naturally occurring flavin and expanded a biomolecule into a new component of metallochemistry. This research suggests a new direction for the design of next-generation catalysts and energy conversion materials based on biomolecules."
This achievement, in which Dr. Neetu Singh and Ph.D candidate Haneul Im of KAIST Department of Chemistry participated as co-first authors, was published in the international journal Inorganic Chemistry, issued by the American Chemical Society (ACS), on November 5th. It was recognized for its creativity and completeness and was selected as the cover article. Furthermore, it was chosen as an ACS Editors’ Choice—a representative paper selected once a day from all 90+ journals published by ACS—acknowledging the importance of the research.
Article Title: Tautomerizable Flavin Ligands for Constructing Primary and Secondary Coordination Spheres, DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5c03941
Author Information: Total 5 authors including Neetu Singh (KAIST, Co-first Author), Haneul Im (KAIST, Co-first Author), Seongyeon Kwon (IBS, Co-second Author), Dongwook Kim (IBS, Co-third Author), and Yunjung Baek (KAIST, Corresponding Author).
<Cover Article Selection Photo for Inorganic Chemistry, an International Academic Journal Published by the American Chemical Society>
This research was supported by the 'Excellent New Researcher' project of the Basic Research Program for Individuals funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the 'Materials and Components Development Program' supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
2025.11.11 View 2375 -
KAIST Takes the Lead in Developing Core Technologies for Generative AI National R&D Project
KAIST announced on the 15th of August that Professor Sanghoo Park of the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering has won two consecutive awards for early-career researchers at two of the world's most prestigious plasma academic conferences.
Professor Park was selected as a recipient of the Early Career Award (ECA) at the Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC), hosted by the American Physical Society, on August 4. He was also honored with the Young Investigator Award, presented by the International Plasma Chemistry Society (IPCS), on June 19.
The American Physical Society's GEC Early Career Award is given to only one person worldwide every two years, based on a comprehensive evaluation of research excellence, academic influence, and contributions to the field of plasma. The award will be presented at GEC 2025, which will be held at COEX in Seoul from October 13 to 17.
Established in 1948, the GEC is a leading academic conference in the plasma field with a 77-year history of showcasing key research achievements in all areas of plasma, including physics, chemistry, diagnostics, and application technologies. Recently, advanced application research such as eco-friendly chemical processes, next-generation semiconductors, and atomic layer and ultra-low-temperature etching technology for HBM processes have been gaining attention.
To commemorate the award, Professor Park will give an invited lecture at GEC 2025 on the topic of "Deep-Learning-Based Spectroscopic Data Analysis for Advancing Plasma Spectroscopy." In his lecture, he will use case studies to demonstrate a method that allows even non-specialists to easily and quickly perform spectroscopic data analysis—which is essential for spectroscopy, a key analytical method in modern science including plasma diagnostics—by using deep learning technology.
Professor Park also won the Young Investigator Award from the IPCS at the 26th International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry (ISPC 26), which was held in Minneapolis, USA, from June 15 to 20.
First held in 1973, the ISPC (International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry) is a representative international conference in the field of plasma chemistry, held biennially. It covers a wide range of topics, from basic plasma chemical reaction principles to applications in semiconductor processes, green energy, environmental science, and biotechnology. Researchers from industry, academia, and research institutions worldwide share their latest findings at each event. The Young Investigator Award is given to a scientist who has obtained their doctorate within the last 10 years and has demonstrated outstanding achievements in the field.
Professor Park was recognized for his leading research achievements in using plasma-liquid interactions and real-time optical diagnostic technology to environmentally fix nitrogen from the air and precisely control the quantity and types of reactive chemical species that are beneficial to the human body and the environment.
Professor Sanghoo Park stated, "It is very meaningful to receive the Young Investigator Award representing Korea at the GEC event, which is being held in Korea for the first time in its history." He added, "I am happy that my consistent interest in and achievements in fundamental plasma science have been recognized, and it is even more significant that the efforts of the KAIST research team have been acknowledged by the world's top conferences."
2025.08.16 View 5187 -
KAIST Develops AI That Automatically Designs Optimal Drug Candidates for Cancer-Targeting Mutations
< (From left) Ph.D candidate Wonho Zhung, Ph.D cadidate Joongwon Lee , Prof. Woo Young Kim , Ph.D candidate Jisu Seo >
Traditional drug development methods involve identifying a target protin (e.g., a cancer cell receptor) that causes disease, and then searching through countless molecular candidates (potential drugs) that could bind to that protein and block its function. This process is costly, time-consuming, and has a low success rate. KAIST researchers have developed an AI model that, using only information about the target protein, can design optimal drug candidates without any prior molecular data—opening up new possibilities for drug discovery.
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 10th that a research team led by Professor Woo Youn Kim in the Department of Chemistry has developed an AI model named BInD (Bond and Interaction-generating Diffusion model), which can design and optimize drug candidate molecules tailored to a protein’s structure alone—without needing prior information about binding molecules. The model also predicts the binding mechanism (non-covalent interactions) between the drug and the target protein.
The core innovation of this technology lies in its “simultaneous design” approach. Previous AI models either focused on generating molecules or separately evaluating whether the generated molecule could bind to the target protein. In contrast, this new model considers the binding mechanism between the molecule and the protein during the generation process, enabling comprehensive design in one step. Since it pre-accounts for critical factors in protein-ligand binding, it has a much higher likelihood of generating effective and stable molecules. The generation process visually demonstrates how types and positions of atoms, covalent bonds, and interactions are created simultaneously to fit the protein’s binding site.
<Figure 1. Schematic of the diffusion model developed by the research team, which generates molecular structures and non-covalent interactions based on protein structures. Starting from a noise distribution, the model gradually removes noise (via reverse diffusion) to restore the atom positions, types, covalent bond types, and interaction types, thereby generating molecules. Interacting patterns are extracted from prior knowledge of known binding molecules or proteins, and through an inpainting technique, these patterns are kept fixed during the reverse diffusion process to guide the molecular generation.>
Moreover, this model is designed to meet multiple essential drug design criteria simultaneously—such as target binding affinity, drug-like properties, and structural stability. Traditional models often optimized for only one or two goals at the expense of others, but this new model balances various objectives, significantly enhancing its practical applicability.
The research team explained that the AI operates based on a “diffusion model”—a generative approach where a structure becomes increasingly refined from a random state. This is the same type of model used in AlphaFold 3, the 2024 Nobel Chemistry Prize-winning tool for protein-ligand structure generation, which has already demonstrated high efficiency.
Unlike AlphaFold 3, which provides spatial coordinates for atom positions, this study introduced a knowledge-based guide grounded in actual chemical laws—such as bond lengths and protein-ligand distances—enabling more chemically realistic structure generation.
<Figure 2. (Left) Target protein and the original bound molecule; (Right) Examples of molecules designed using the model developed in this study. The values for protein binding affinity (Vina), drug-likeness (QED), and synthetic accessibility (SA) are shown at the bottom.>
Additionally, the team applied an optimization strategy where outstanding binding patterns from prior results are reused. This allowed the model to generate even better drug candidates without additional training. Notably, the AI successfully produced molecules that selectively bind to the mutated residues of EGFR, a cancer-related target protein.
This study is also meaningful because it advances beyond the team’s previous research, which required prior input about the molecular conditions for the interaction pattern of protein binding.
Professor Woo Youn Kim commented that “the newly developed AI can learn and understand the key features required for strong binding to a target protein, and design optimal drug candidate molecules—even without any prior input. This could significantly shift the paradigm of drug development.” He added, “Since this technology generates molecular structures based on principles of chemical interactions, it is expected to enable faster and more reliable drug development.”
Joongwon Lee and Wonho Zhung, PhD students in the Department of Chemistry, participated as co-first authors of this study. The research results were published in the international journal Advanced Science (IF = 14.1) on July 11.
● Paper Title: BInD: Bond and Interaction-Generating Diffusion Model for Multi-Objective Structure-Based Drug Design
● DOI: 10.1002/advs.202502702
This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
2025.08.12 View 7695 -
Anti-Neuroinflammatory Natural Products from Isopod-Related Fungus Now Accessible via Chemical Synthesis
<(From left) Professor Sunkyu Han, Ph.D candidate Yoojin Lee, Ph.D candidate Taewan Kim>
"Herpotrichone" is a natural substance that has been evaluated highly for its excellent ability to suppress inflammation in the brain and protect nerve cells, displaying significant potential to be developed as a therapeutic agent for neurodegenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. This substance could only be obtained in minute quantities from fungi that are symbiotic with isopods. However, KAIST researchers have succeeded in chemically synthesizing this rare natural product, thereby presenting the possibility for the development of next-generation drugs for neurodegenerative diseases.
*Chemical Synthesis: A process of creating desired substances using chemical reactions.
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 31st of July that a research team led by Professor Sunkyu Han of the Department of Chemistry successfully synthesized the natural anti-neuroinflammatory substances 'herpotrichones A, B, and C' for the first time.
Herpotrichone natural products are substances obtainable only in minute quantities from 'Herpotrichia sp. SF09', a symbiotic pill bug fungus, and possess a unique 6/6/6/6/3 pentacyclic framework consisting of five fused rings (four six-membered and one three-membered ring).
Interestingly, this substance exhibits excellent anti-neuroinflammatory effects that suppress brain inflammatory reactions. Recently, its mechanism of action to protect nerve cells by inhibiting ferroptosis (iron-mediated cell death) was also reported, raising expectations for its potential as a therapeutic drug for brain diseases.
Professor Han's research team devised a biosynthetically inspired strategy to chemically synthesize herpotrichoneS. The key to success was a named chemical reaction "Diels-Alder (DA) reaction". This reaction forms a six-membered ring by creating new bonds between carbon-based partners, much like two puzzle pieces interlocking to form a single ring.
<Figure 2. Key Synthetic Strategy for Hypotricon A, B, and C Based on Hydrogen Bonding>
Furthermore, the research team focused on a weak attractive phenomenon between molecules called "hydrogen bonding". By delicately designing and controlling this hydrogen bond, they were able to precisely induce the reaction to occur chemo-, regio- and stereoselectively, thereby synthesizing herpotrichone. Notably, without the pivotal hydrogen bond, only a small amount of the target natural product was formed or only undesirable byproducts were generated.
The configuration of the C2’ hydroxyl moiety was essential in directing the desired transition states leading to the target natural products.
Thanks to this induced hydrogen bonding, the reacting molecules approached the correct positions and went through an ideal transition state, allowing for the synthesis of herpotrichone C. This reaction principle was also successfully applied to herpotrichone A and B, enabling the successful synthesis of these natural products.
During the key Diels-Alder reaction conducted in the laboratory, new molecular structures not yet discovered in nature were also formed. Some of these have a high probability of being novel natural products with excellent pharmacological activity, thus doubling the significance of this research for anticipating natural products through synthesis.
Indeed, while Professor Han's research team conducted synthetic studies on herpotrichone A and B based on a 2019 paper by Chinese researchers who discovered and elucidated their structures, the research team observed the formation of undesired byproducts.
Interestingly, in 2024, the same Chinese research team that discovered herpotrichones A and bn reported the discovery of a new natural product called herpotrichone C, which turned out to be the same substance as the major byproduct previously obtained by Professor Han's team en route to herpotrichones A and B.
Professor Han stated, "This is the first total synthesis of a rare natural product with pharmacological activity related to neurodegenerative diseases and systematically presents the principle of biomimetic synthesis of complex natural products." He added, "It is expected to contribute to the development of novel natural product-based anti-neuroinflammatory therapeutics and biosynthesis research of this group of natural products."
This research outcome, with Yoojin Lee, a master's and Ph.D. integrated course student in the Department of Chemistry, as the first author, was published on July 16th in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), one of the most prestigious academic journals in the field of chemistry.
This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Mid-career Researcher Support Program, the KAIST UP Project, the KAIST Grand Challenge 30 Project, and the KAIST Trans-Generational Collaborative Research Laboratory Project.
2025.08.04 View 4435 -
KAIST Designs a New Atomic Catalyst for Air Pollution Reduction
<(From Left)Professor Jong Hun Kim from Inha University, Dr. Gyuho Han and Professor Jeong Young Park from KAIST>
Platinum diselenide (PtSe2) is a two-dimensional multilayer material in which each layer is composed of platinum (Pt) and selenium (Se). It is known that its excellent crystallinity and precise control of interlayer interactions allow modulation of various physical and chemical properties. Due to these characteristics, it has been actively researched in multiple fields, including semiconductors, photodetectors, and electrochemical devices. Now, a research team has proposed a new design concept in which atomically dispersed platinum on the surface of platinum diselenide can function as a catalyst for gas reactions. Through this, they have proven its potential as a next-generation gas-phase catalyst technology for high-efficiency carbon dioxide conversion and carbon monoxide reduction.
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on July 22 that a joint research team led by Endowed Chair Professor Jeong Young Park from the Department of Chemistry, along with Professor Hyun You Kim's team from Chungnam National University and Professor Yeonwoong (Eric) Jung's team from the University of Central Florida (UCF), has achieved excellent carbon monoxide oxidation performance by utilizing platinum atoms exposed on the surface of platinum diselenide, a type of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD).
To maximize catalytic performance, the research team designed the catalyst by dispersing platinum atoms uniformly across the surface, departing from the conventional use of bulk platinum. This strategy allows more efficient catalytic reactions using a smaller amount of platinum. It also enhances electronic interactions between platinum and selenium by tuning the surface electronic structure. As a result, the platinum diselenide film with a thickness of a few nanometers showed superior carbon monoxide oxidation performance across the entire temperature range compared to a conventional platinum thin film under identical conditions.
In particular, carbon monoxide and oxygen were evenly adsorbed on the surface in similar proportions, increasing the likelihood that they would encounter each other and react, which significantly enhanced the catalytic activity. This improvement is primarily attributed to the increased exposure of surface platinum atoms resulting from selenium vacancies (Se-vacancies), which provide adsorption sites for gas molecules.
The research team confirmed in real-time that these platinum atoms served as active adsorption sites during the actual reaction process, using ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS) conducted at the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory. This high-precision analysis was enabled by advanced instrumentation capable of observing surfaces at the nanometer scale under ambient pressure conditions. At the same time, computer simulations based on density functional theory (DFT) demonstrated that platinum diselenide exhibits distinct electronic behavior compared to conventional platinum.
*Density Functional Theory (DFT): A quantum mechanical method for calculating the total energy of a system based on electron density.
Professor Jeong Young Park stated, “This research presents a new design strategy that utilizes platinum diselenide, a two-dimensional layered material distinct from conventional platinum catalysts, to enable catalytic functions optimized for gas-phase reactions.” He added, “The electronic interaction between platinum and selenium created favorable conditions for the balanced adsorption of carbon monoxide and oxygen. By designing the catalyst to exhibit higher reactivity across the entire temperature range than conventional platinum, we improved its practical applicability. This enabled a high-efficiency catalytic reaction mechanism through atomic-level design, a two-dimensional material platform, and precise adsorption control.”
This research was co-authored by Dr. Gyuho Han from the Department of Chemistry at KAIST, Dr. Hyuk Choi from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Chungnam National University, and Professor Jong Hun Kim from Inha University. The study was published on July 3 in the world-renowned journal Nature Communications.
Paper Title: Enhanced catalytic activity on atomically dispersed PtSe2 two-dimensional layers
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61320-0
This research was supported by the Mid-Career Researcher Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Core Research Institute Program of the Ministry of Education, the National Strategic Technology Materials Development Project, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Program, research funding from Inha University, and the Postdoctoral Researcher Program (P3) at UCF. Accelerator-based analysis was conducted in cooperation with the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory and the Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI).
2025.07.22 View 5104 -
KAIST Captures Hot Holes: A Breakthrough in Light-to-Electricity Energy Conversion
When light interacts with metallic nanostructures, it instantaneously generates plasmonic hot carriers, which serve as key intermediates for converting optical energy into high-value energy sources such as electricity and chemical energy. Among these, hot holes play a crucial role in enhancing photoelectrochemical reactions. However, they thermally dissipate within picoseconds (trillionths of a second), making practical applications challenging. Now, a Korean research team has successfully developed a method for sustaining hot holes longer and amplifying their flow, accelerating the commercialization of next-generation, high-efficiency, light-to-energy conversion technologies.
KAIST (represented by President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 12th of March that a research team led by Distinguished Professor Jeong Young Park from the Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with Professor Moonsang Lee from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Inha University, has successfully amplified the flow of hot holes and mapped local current distribution in real time, thereby elucidating the mechanism of photocurrent enhancement.
The team designed a nanodiode structure by placing a metallic nanomesh on a specialized semiconductor substrate (p-type gallium nitride) to facilitate hot hole extraction at the surface. As a result, in gallium nitride substrates aligned with the hot hole extraction direction, the flow of hot holes was amplified by approximately two times compared to substrates aligned in other directions.
To fabricate the Au nanomesh, a polystyrene nano-bead monolayer assembly was first placed on a gallium nitride (p-GaN) substrate, and then the polystyrene nano-beads were etched to form a nanomesh template (Figure 1A). Then, a 20 nm thick gold nano-film was deposited, and the etched polystyrene nano-beads were removed to realize the gold nano-mesh structure on the GaN substrate (Figure 1B). The fabricated Au nanomesh exhibited strong light absorption in the visible range due to the plasmonic resonance effect (Figure 1C). >
Furthermore, using a photoconductive atomic force microscopy (pc-AFM)-based photocurrent mapping system, the researchers analyzed the flow of hot holes in real time at the nanometer scale (one hundred-thousandth the thickness of a human hair). They observed that hot hole activation was strongest at "hot spots," where light was locally concentrated on the gold nanomesh. However, by modifying the growth direction of the gallium nitride substrate, hot hole activation extended beyond the hot spots to other areas as well.
Through this research, the team discovered an efficient method for converting light into electrical and chemical energy. This breakthrough is expected to significantly advance next-generation solar cells, photocatalysts, and hydrogen production technologies.
Professor Jeong Young Park stated, "For the first time, we have successfully controlled the flow of hot holes using a nanodiode technique. This innovation holds great potential for various optoelectronic devices and photocatalytic applications. For example, it could lead to groundbreaking advancements in solar energy conversion technologies, such as solar cells and hydrogen production. Additionally, the real-time analysis technology we developed can be applied to the development of ultra-miniaturized optoelectronic devices, including optical sensors and nanoscale semiconductor components."
The study was led by Hyunhwa Lee (PhD., KAIST Department of Chemistry) and Yujin Park (Postdoc Researcher, University of Texas at Austin Department of Chemical Engineering) as co-first authors and Professors Moonsang Lee (Inha University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering) and Jeong Young Park (KAIST, Department of Chemistry) serving as corresponding authors. The research findings were published online in Science Advances on March 7.
(Paper Title: “Reconfiguring hot-hole flux via polarity modulation of p-GaN in plasmonic Schottky architectures”, DOI: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adu0086)
This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF).
2025.03.17 View 10495