Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 25, 2026

Analysis of Oxidative Stress in Zebrafish Embryos
Published on: July 7, 2014
Selective visualization of endogenous hypochlorous acid in zebrafish during lipopolysaccharide-induced acute liver
Peisheng Zhang1, Hong Wang1, Yongxiang Hong1
1Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Functional Molecule of Ministry of Education, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Controllable Preparation and Functional Application of Fine Polymers, Hunan Province College Key Laboratory of QSAR/QSPR, Institute of Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, Hunan 411201, China.
Abstract:
The development of effective method for monitoring of endogenous hypochlorous acid (HClO) in vivo is of great significance for early diagnosis of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced acute liver injury. Herein, we report a polymer micelles-based ratiometric fluorescent probe (PM) based on the combination of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) mechanism and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) principle for selective visualization of endogenous HClO in vivo. Upon the reaction of PM with HClO, the electron-donating thiourea moiety is oxidized and transformed into imidazoline moiety (electron-withdrawing group), resulting in a dramatic blue shift (˃100nm) in the fluorescence emission. The as-prepared PM shows good water dispersibility (100% aqueous media), fast response (<40s), high sensitivity (a detection limit of 1.75nM), and outstanding selectivity toward HClO over other ROS/RNS (50 equiv.). In addition, the vivo imaging experiments demonstrate that PM facilitates the visualization of endogenous HClO generation with LPS induced acute liver injury in zebrafish model.

