Illuminating hypochlorite: Advances in fluorescent probe design and in vivo imaging

초록

The hypochlorite ion (ClO−), a reactive oxygen species generated mainly by myeloperoxidase (MPO), plays a dual role in biological systems by participating in host defense while also contributing to tissue damage and diverse diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, arthritis, and cancer. ClO− is also commonly encountered in daily life through its use in food preservation, water treatment, and disinfectants. Owing to its biological and environmental significance, the development of rapid, sensitive, and selective detection methods for ClO− has attracted increasing attention. Among these, fluorescent probes stand out as powerful tools due to their simplicity, biocompatibility, and excellent spatiotemporal resolution, offering high sensitivity and selectivity for imaging. Their versatility also enables applications ranging from real-time monitoring in vitro and in vivo to on-site detection. This review highlights progress over the past five years in the design of ClO− probe, with particular emphasis on molecular scaffolds, reactive sites, subcellular targeting, and integration with nanomaterials. In addition, sensing mechanisms, performance metrics, and representative applications are discussed, we further discuss sensing mechanisms, performance metrics, and applications, along with current challenges and future prospects for the development of next-generation ClO− probes.

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