Execution of aggregation-induced emission as nano-sensors for hypochlorite detection and application for bioimaging in living cells and zebrafish

Hypochlorite (ClO − ) could be used as a diagnostic marker for inflammation and related diseases. Although there have been many reports on probes for ClO − imaging, there was still a lack of specificity and anti-interference ability. Herein, carbazole (NEC) and tetraphenylethylene (TPE) equipped with thiobarbituric acid (TBA), NEC-TBA and TPE-TBA , were synthesized and used as a fluorescence biosensor for monitoring ClO − with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effect. we identified that TPE-TBA , with formed nanoparticles in the mean grain size at 76 nm (5 μM), was a superior probe to target ClO − over other analytes with fluorescence “turn off” strategy. Subsequently, to explore the bioimaging application, TPE-TBA was able to sense exogenous ClO − in living HeLa cells through fluorescence imaging. In zebrafish model, TPE-TBA effectively captured exogenous ClO − in the entire organization of zebrafish. Overall, these AIE-based probes merit further development as organism targeting ClO − sensors.