Rationally constructed nanoprobe based on the molecular docking strategy for rapid hypochlorous acid detection in foods and biosystems.

Hypochlorous acid (HClO) is not only often used as an effective preservative in the food industry, but also is an important reactive oxygen species in organisms. Herein, a series of Near-infrared (NIR) small-molecule HClO fluorescent probes based on dicyanoisophorone fluorophore were constructed by reasonable design, and docking with bovine serum albumin was carried out, and the best docking effect was screened to prepare a fluorescent nanoprobe (DBH-1) for HClO detection via the self-assembly of host and guest. This nanoprobe features outstanding water solubility, good biocompatibility, and high sensitivity (35.56 nM) toward HClO. Impressively, DBH-1 has been successfully used for the detection of HClO in food samples, living cells, zebrafish, and mouse models with satisfactory results. Therefore, DBH-1 can not only serve as a robust tool to detect HClO in food samples and biosystems, but also provide technical guidance and theoretical basis for the design of other self-assembled nanoprobes.