Bioluminescence firefly luciferase gene

In the method shown in Figure 9B, a firefly luciferase gene is introduced for sensitive bioluminescent detection of target DNA [5], The luciferase-coding DNA requires no posttranslational modification, and the activity of the luciferase produced can be readily measured in the transcription/translation mixture without prior purification. In this assay system, the digoxigenin-labeled probe is first immobilized to polystyrene wells coated with antidigoxigenin antibody. The target... 

Recently a topic related to bioluminescence has sparked a lot of interest. Researchers attempted to introduce the firefly luciferase gene into killifish eggs. Just before the birth of... 

U. S. Patent 5,876,995. The inventor claims a way of making glow-in-the-dark party drinks such as champagne. The glow is created by the interaction of luciferin and luciferase as in the bioluminescence process, which lights the firefly s tail. One way of achieving this is to clone the luciferase gene into the... 

In a reporter gene assay, CKR-mediated activation of transcription factors can be quantified. A plasmid encoding the CKR of interest is cotransfected with a plasmid encoding a reporter protein of which expression can easily be detected, such as firefly luciferase (Flue) (or another bioluminescent protein or enzyme such as Gaussia luciferase (Glue) or P-galactosidase). Luciferase transcription is controUed by an inducible promoter containing multiple response elements for a specific transcription factor. Hence, activation (or inhibition) of this transcription factor in response to CKR activation leads to the expression of luciferase (Fig. 15A). 

Bioluminescence serves as an excellent reporter system as a sensitive marker for microbial detection, as a real-time, non-invasive reporter for measuring gene expression and as a measure of intracellular biochemical function (cell viability). Most widely studied of the bioluminescence systems are those belonging to the luminous bacteria Vibrio sp.. Photobacterium sp. and Photorhabdus luminescens) and the firefly Photinus pyralis). While these systems have proved extremely versatile, there are caveats to their use limiting the array of applications they can be applied to. These caveats mainly surround the nature of the luciferase enzymes, and include temperature and pH stability. 

In BLI, the target eells of interest (e.g. tumor or baeteria) are first transfected with die luciferase (firefly) gene that is incorporated into the cell s genome and replicated upon cell division. When the substrate luciferase is then administered to the tumor or pathogen-bearing animal, the bioluminescence reactions take place ... 

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