Kai Johnsson

22.9k total citations · 7 hit papers
177 papers, 16.9k citations indexed

About

Kai Johnsson is a scholar working on Molecular Biology, Organic Chemistry and Cell Biology. According to data from OpenAlex, Kai Johnsson has authored 177 papers receiving a total of 16.9k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 126 papers in Molecular Biology, 51 papers in Organic Chemistry and 42 papers in Cell Biology. Recurrent topics in Kai Johnsson's work include Click Chemistry and Applications (47 papers), Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques (39 papers) and Biotin and Related Studies (32 papers). Kai Johnsson is often cited by papers focused on Click Chemistry and Applications (47 papers), Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques (39 papers) and Biotin and Related Studies (32 papers). Kai Johnsson collaborates with scholars based in Switzerland, Germany and United States. Kai Johnsson's co-authors include Peter G. Schultz, Horst Vogel, Horst Pick, Antje Keppler, A. Paul Alivisatos, Xiaogang Peng, Colin J. Loweth, Troy E. Wilson, Marcel P. Bruchez and Susanne Gendreizig and has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In The Last Decade

Kai Johnsson

174 papers receiving 16.7k citations

Hit Papers

5 papers align trajectories

What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

Organization of 'nanocrystal molecules' using DNA

1996 2.4k citations Kai Johnsson et al. Nature profile →
A general method for the covalent labeling of fusion proteins with small molecules in vivo

2002 1.5k citations Antje Keppler, Susanne Gendreizig et al. profile →
An Engineered Protein Tag for Multiprotein Labeling in Living Cells

2008 833 citations Arnaud Gautier, Alexandre Juillerat et al. Chemistry & Biology profile →
A near-infrared fluorophore for live-cell super-resolution microscopy of cellular proteins

2013 747 citations Gražvydas Lukinavičius, Keitaro Umezawa et al. Nature Chemistry profile →
Fluorogenic probes for live-cell imaging of the cytoskeleton

2014 622 citations Gražvydas Lukinavičius, Luc Reymond et al. profile →
Small-Molecule Fluorescent Probes for Live-Cell Super-Resolution Microscopy

2018 410 citations Michelle S. Frei, Kai Johnsson et al. profile →
Computational design of ligand-binding proteins with high affinity and selectivity

2013 325 citations Kai Johnsson, David Baker et al. Nature profile →

Peers — A (Enhanced Table)

Peers by citation overlap · career bar shows stage (early→late) cites · hero ref

Name	h						Papers	Cites
Kai Johnsson Switzerland	65	10.6k	3.9k	3.1k	2.9k	2.4k	177	16.9k
Alice Y. Ting United States	63	14.1k 1.3×	4.6k 1.2×	2.4k 0.8×	2.1k 0.7×	1.6k 0.7×	128	21.4k
Thomas M. Jovin Germany	73	11.8k 1.1×	1.0k 0.3×	2.1k 0.7×	2.4k 0.8×	1.8k 0.8×	298	19.4k
Young‐Tae Chang Singapore	73	9.8k 0.9×	3.7k 0.9×	1.1k 0.4×	6.2k 2.1×	4.5k 1.9×	436	21.7k
Horst Vogel Switzerland	65	10.3k 1.0×	1.5k 0.4×	1.4k 0.4×	1.1k 0.4×	2.5k 1.1×	241	14.8k
Derek Marsh Germany	71	15.1k 1.4×	2.3k 0.6×	2.9k 0.9×	1.1k 0.4×	1.3k 0.5×	372	19.0k
Luke D. Lavis United States	57	7.1k 0.7×	2.3k 0.6×	3.2k 1.0×	3.0k 1.0×	1.8k 0.8×	131	12.7k
Philip E. Dawson United States	74	15.7k 1.5×	7.2k 1.8×	396 0.1×	4.3k 1.5×	1.7k 0.7×	224	20.8k
Alan S. Waggoner United States	54	6.0k 0.6×	1.2k 0.3×	1.6k 0.5×	2.1k 0.7×	2.1k 0.9×	127	11.0k
Itaru Hamachi Japan	71	8.6k 0.8×	6.5k 1.6×	426 0.1×	4.8k 1.6×	1.6k 0.7×	330	16.6k
David E. Wemmer United States	73	12.4k 1.2×	1.5k 0.4×	785 0.2×	2.4k 0.8×	1.0k 0.4×	281	17.8k

Countries citing papers authored by Kai Johnsson

Since Specialization

Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Kai Johnsson's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Kai Johnsson with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Kai Johnsson more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Kai Johnsson

Since Specialization

Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Kai Johnsson. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Kai Johnsson. The network helps show where Kai Johnsson may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Kai Johnsson

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Kai Johnsson. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Kai Johnsson based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Kai Johnsson. Kai Johnsson is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

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20 of 20 papers shown

Sun, De‐en, Dirk C. Hoffmann, Daniel Domínguez Azorín, et al.. (2025). Molecular recording of cellular protein kinase activity with chemical labeling. Nature Chemical Biology. 21(11). 1818–1827.

Kühn, Stefanie, Jonas Wilhelm, Mirosław Tarnawski, et al.. (2025). SNAP-tag2 for faster and brighter protein labeling. Nature Chemical Biology. 21(11). 1754–1761. 8 indexed citations

Zobel, Thomas, et al.. (2025). Chemigenetic Ca2+ indicators report elevated Ca2+ levels in endothelial Weibel-Palade bodies. PLoS ONE. 20(1). e0316854–e0316854. 1 indexed citations

Wang, Ming‐Ming & Kai Johnsson. (2024). Metal-free introduction of primary sulfonamide into electron-rich aromatics. Chemical Science. 15(31). 12310–12315. 1 indexed citations

Wilhelm, Jonas, Martin Schneider, Dirk C. Hoffmann, et al.. (2024). Recording physiological history of cells with chemical labeling. Science. 383(6685). 890–897. 28 indexed citations

Dietz, Marina S., et al.. (2024). Long‐Term Single‐Molecule Tracking in Living Cells using Weak‐Affinity Protein Labeling. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 64(1). e202413117–e202413117. 9 indexed citations

Takemoto, Satoko, Luc Reymond, Mayya Sundukova, et al.. (2022). A covalently linked probe to monitor local membrane properties surrounding plasma membrane proteins. The Journal of Cell Biology. 222(3). 5 indexed citations

Kemter, Elisabeth, Andreas Müller, Anna Ivanova, et al.. (2021). Sequential in vivo labeling of insulin secretory granule pools in INS - SNAP transgenic pigs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118(37). 7 indexed citations

Luongo, Timothy S., Mu‐Jie Lu, Marc Niere, et al.. (2020). SLC25A51 is a mammalian mitochondrial NAD+ transporter. Nature. 588(7836). 174–179. 205 indexed citations

10.

Frei, Michelle S., Philipp Hoess, Marko Lampe, et al.. (2019). Photoactivation of silicon rhodamines via a light-induced protonation. Nature Communications. 10(1). 4580–4580. 64 indexed citations

11.

Arokiaraj, Cynthia M., Francisco J. Taberner, Linda Nocchi, et al.. (2018). Control of mechanical pain hypersensitivity in mice through ligand-targeted photoablation of TrkB-positive sensory neurons. Nature Communications. 9(1). 1640–1640. 79 indexed citations

12.

Bick, Matthew J., Per Greisen, Kevin J. Morey, et al.. (2017). Computational design of environmental sensors for the potent opioid fentanyl. eLife. 6. 94 indexed citations

13.

Haruki, Hirohito, et al.. (2013). Tetrahydrobiopterin Biosynthesis as an Off-Target of Sulfa Drugs. Science. 340(6135). 987–991. 83 indexed citations

14.

Lukinavičius, Gražvydas, Keitaro Umezawa, Nicolas Olivier, et al.. (2013). A near-infrared fluorophore for live-cell super-resolution microscopy of cellular proteins. Nature Chemistry. 5(2). 132–139. 747 indexed citations breakdown →

15.

Gautier, Arnaud, Alexandre Juillerat, Christian Heinis, et al.. (2008). An Engineered Protein Tag for Multiprotein Labeling in Living Cells. Chemistry & Biology. 15(2). 128–136. 833 indexed citations breakdown →

16.

Meyer, Bruno H., Jean‐Manuel Segura, Karen L. Martinez, et al.. (2006). FRET imaging reveals that functional neurokinin-1 receptors are monomeric and reside in membrane microdomains of live cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103(7). 2138–2143. 176 indexed citations

17.

Chidley, Christopher, Thomas Gronemeyer, Christian Heinis, et al.. (2005). Mutants of human O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase with improved properties. Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). 1 indexed citations

18.

Tafelmeyer, Petra, Nils Johnsson, & Kai Johnsson. (2004). Transforming a (β/α)8-Barrel Enzyme into a Split-Protein Sensor through Directed Evolution. Chemistry & Biology. 11(5). 681–689. 36 indexed citations

19.

Gendreizig, Susanne, Antje Keppler, Alexandre Juillerat, et al.. (2003). Covalent Labeling of Fusion Proteins with Chemical Probes in Living Cells. CHIMIA International Journal for Chemistry. 57(4). 181–181. 1 indexed citations

20.

Benner, Steven A., Mark A. Cohen, Gastón H. Gonnet, David B. Berkowitz, & Kai Johnsson. (1993). 2 Reading the Palimpsest: Contemporary Biochemical Data and the RNA World. Cold Spring Harbor Monograph Archive. 24. 27–70. 19 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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