A mitochondria-targeted fluorescent probe based on fluorescein derivative for detection of hypochlorite in living cells

- A highly selective fluorescent probe based on fluorescein aldehyde is developed for HOCl detection.
- The probe exhibited a perfect mitochondria targetable ability.
- The probe can be used to detect mitochondrial HOCl and monitor the MPO-catalyzed HOCl generation in living cells.

In the present study, a mitochondria-targeted fluorescent probe FL based on fluorescein derivative for hypochlorite sensing was designed and synthesized. The probe FL showed highly selective to HOCl among various reactive oxygen/nitrogen species. With the increasing amount of HOCl from 0 to 50 μM, a linear correlation between the fluorescence intensity of FL at 530 nm and the concentration of HOCl was found. The detection limit is calculated to be 0.068 μM. Furthermore, the probe demonstrated a perfect mitochondria targetable ability and it was successfully applied to image mitochondrial HOCl in living HeLa cells. The success of subcellular imaging indicated that the mitochondria-targetable probe FL might be further used to investigate biological functions and pathological roles of HOCl at organelle levels.

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