Lysosome-targeted fluorescent probe for real-time imaging of hypochlorite in rheumatoid arthritis and machine learning-assisted quantification in plant tissues.

Authors

Zhipeng Zhang, Zhengxin Chen, Hanbin Wu, Zhongxi Huang, Long Zhang, Yao Wang, Zihan Ma, Yangyang Pu, Changmin Yu

Published in

Analytica chimica acta. Volume 1425. Pages 346324. Dec 01, 2026. Epub Sep 25, 2026.

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease closely associated with excessive oxidative stress. Hypochlorite (ClO^-) are key reactive oxidants in inflammatory microenvironments which contribute to lysosomal dysfunction and inflammatory cascade amplification. However, rapid and selective visualization of ClO^- in complex biological systems remains challenging. In addition, residual ClO^- in plant-derived foods raises safety concerns, while conventional analytical methods are unsuitable for direct in situ detection. To address this issue, we developed a lysosome-targeted fluorescent probe HB-Z, for sensitive ClO^- detection in RA models and plant tissues.
The designed probe HB-Z consists of a 1,8-naphthalimide-based fluorophore, p-aminophenyl ether recognition unit, and morpholine lysosomal-targeting group, enabling remarkable turn-on fluorescence response upon ClO^- triggered cleavage. Spectroscopic studies demonstrated excellent selectivity, rapid response within seconds, high sensitivity, and good pH stability. HB-Z successfully imaged exogenous and endogenous ClO^- in live RAW 264.7 macrophages with distinct lysosomal localization. In a λ-carrageenan-induced acute arthritis mouse model, HB-Z enabled visualization of elevated joint ClO^- levels and real-time monitoring of oxidative fluctuations during disease progression and antioxidant-mediated remission. Furthermore, HB-Z achieved concentration-dependent fluorescence imaging of exogenous ClO^- residues in soybean sprouts. By integrating fluorescence features and soaking time, a stochastic gradient descent machine-learning classifier further enabled three-class discrimination of disinfection status with high accuracy.
This probe provides a versatile platform for dynamic ClO^- imaging in inflammatory diseases and intelligent assessment of food disinfection quality, possessing great potential for exploring the mechanism of inflammatory diseases and realizing intelligent food safety detection.

PMID:
42951560
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 29 Oct 2026.

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