Luciferases and

Genes lux) encoding luciferase and the other proteias iavolved ia the bioluminescent reaction have been cloned. PuxA. and luxP genes code for the luciferase subunits, and the fatty acid reductase complex is coded by the luxCDE genes. 

The apparent molecular weights of both natural P. pyralis luciferase and an active luciferase obtained from P. pyralis by the in vitro RNA translation were 62,000 by SDS-PAGE (Wood et al., 1984), in contrast to the value of 100,000 that had been widely referred to in the field for almost 30 years. Luciferases from other species of firefly probably have similar molecular weights. Presently, the molecular masses of firefly luciferases are considered to be 60-62 kDa. 

Fig. 2.2 Assay of luciferase by the injection of FMNH2. The assay was initiated by the injection of 1 ml of 50 JtM FMNH2 solution into 1 ml of air equilibrated buffer, pH 7.0, containing 0.1% BSA, luciferase, and 20 gl of 0.01% sonicated suspension of dodecanal. From Baldwin et al., 1986, with permission from Elsevier.

Why does EDTA cause only 90% inhibition, leaving 10% of the activity intact Buffer solutions usually contain 0.1 1 pM of contaminating Ca2+ when special precaution is not taken, and this concentration is much greater than the molar concentration of luciferase used in the experiments. Thus, one of the possibilities would be that Ca2+ interacts with the molecule of luciferase and can increase the activity of luciferase about 10 times, in spite of the fact that the molecule of luciferase lacks the Ca2+ binding site of EF-hand type (Thompson et al., 1989). Another possibility would be that EDTA interacts directly with the molecules of luciferase, to cause the inhibition. The question remains unresolved. 

The bioluminescence reaction of Oplophorus is a typical luciferin-luciferase reaction that requires only three components luciferin (coelenterazine), luciferase and molecular oxygen. The luminescence spectrum shows a peak at about 454nm (Fig. 3.3.1). The luminescence is significantly affected by pH, salt concentration, and temperature. A certain level of ionic strength (salt) is necessary for the activity of the luciferase. In the case of NaCl, at least 0.05-0.1 M of the salt is needed for a moderate rate of light emission, and about 0.5 M for the maximum light intensity. 

Fig. 3.3.2 Influence of pH on the activity of luciferase ( ) and the quantum yield of coelenterazine (o) in the bioluminescence of Oplophorus. The measurements were made with coelenterazine (4.5 pg) and luciferase (0.02 pg) for the former, and coelenterazine (0.1 pg) and luciferase (100 pg) for the latter, in 5 ml of 10 mM buffer solutions at 24° C. The buffer solutions used sodium acetate (pH 5.0), sodium phosphate (pH 6.0-7.5), Tris-HCl (pH 7.5-9.1), and sodium carbonate (pH 9.5-10.5), all containing 50 mM NaCl. Replotted from Shimomura et al., 1978, with permission from the American Chemical Society.

Properties of the luciferases. According to Shimomura and Flood (1998) and Shimomura et al. (2001), all Periphylla luciferases L, A, B and C catalyze the oxidation of coelenterazine, resulting in the emission of blue light (Amax 465 nm). Luciferases B (40 kDa) and C (80 kDa) are apparently the dimer and tetramer, respectively, of luciferase A (20 kDa). The presence of a salt is essential for the activity of luciferase, and the optimum salt concentration is about 1M in the case of NaCl for all forms of luciferases. The luminescence intensity of luciferase L is maximum near 0°C, and decreases almost linearly with rising temperature, falling to zero intensity at 60°C the luminescence intensity profiles of luciferases A, B and C show their peaks at about 30°C (Fig. 4.5.3). The Michaelis constants estimated for luciferases A, B and C with coelenterazine are all about 0.2 xM, and that for luciferase L is 1.2 jiM. 

All of the luciferases cause the emission of a bluish light when they catalyze the oxidation of coelenterazine. However, there are some marked differences between the decapod shrimp luciferases and the cnidarian luciferases (Matthews et al., 1977a,b). For example, the luminescence caused by the former (Amax about 452 nm) is bluer than that caused by the latter (7max 470-480 nm), and the optimum pH of the former, about 8.5, is significantly higher than that of the latter (Renilla, 7.4 Ptilosarcus, 7.0). The optimum temperature of the decapod shrimp luciferases (35°C) is higher than those of Ptilosarcus (23°C) and Renilla (32°C). 

Fig. 5.8 Influence of pH, temperature, NaCl concentration, and the concentration of coelenterazine on the light intensity of luminescence reaction catalyzed by the luciferases of Heterocarpus sibogae, Heterocarpus ensifer, Oplophorus gracilirostris, and Ptilosarcus gruneyi. Buffer solutions used 20 mM MOPS, pH 7.0, for Ptilosarcus luciferase and 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.5, for all other luciferases, all with 0.2 M NaCl, 0.05% BSA, and 0.3 p,M coelenterazine, at 23°C, with appropriate modifications in each panel. Various pH values are set by acetate, MES, HEPES, TAPS, CHES, and CAPS buffers.

Purification of Latia luciferase and the purple protein. According to Shimomura and Johnson (1968c), frozen specimens of Latia (10 g) are vigorously shaken in 200 ml of cold 5mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) for 15 minutes. Latia luciferase is extracted into the buffer and the solution becomes turbid. Four batches of such turbid solutions are combined and centrifuged, and the clear supernatant is... 

Properties of Latia luciferase and the purple protein. The absorption spectra of purified Latia luciferase and the purple protein are shown in Fig. 6.1.4. The sedimentation coefficient (sjo) of the... 

Fig. 6.1.5 Fluorescence spectra of the purple protein (1-4) and the luminescence spectrum measured with Latia luciferin, luciferase and the purple protein (5 Xmax 536 nm). Excitation spectra (1) and (2) were measured with emission at 630 nm and 565 nm, respectively. Emission spectra (3) and (4) were measured with excitation at 285 nm and 380 nm, respectively. From Shimomura and Johnson, 1968c, with permission from the American Chemical Society.

On the basis of the luciferin-luciferase reaction discovered by Dubois (1887), Michelson, Henry and their associates studied the biochemistry of the Pholas bioluminescence for several years beginning in 1970 (Michelson, 1978). They isolated, purified, and characterized the luciferin and the luciferase, and published about a dozen papers in which the luciferin isolated was referred to as Pholas luciferin. Since the luciferin is clearly a protein, later authors called it pholasin following the traditional way of naming a photoprotein... 

Purification of Pholas luciferase (Michelson, 1978). Acetone powder of the light organs is extracted with 10 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.5, and the luciferase extracted is chromatographed on a column of DEAE Sephadex A-50 (elution by NaCl gradient from 0.1 M to 0.6 M). Two peaks of proteins are eluted, first luciferase, followed by a stable complex of luciferase and inactivated pholasin. The fractions of each peak are combined, and centrifuged in 40% cesium chloride... 

Luminescence reaction (Bellisario et al., 1972). Mixing the luciferin, luciferase and H2O2 results in an emission of light, regardless of the presence or absence of molecular oxygen. The in vitro luminescence with partially purified luciferin and luciferase (A.max 503 nm) was spectrally similar to the in vivo luminescence from freshly exuded slime (A.max 507 nm) (Fig. 7.3.2). However, Ohtsuka et al. (1976) reported that the emission maximum was found at 490 nm when a pure sample of luciferin was used. 

When an excess amount of luciferin was preincubated with H2O2 before the addition of luciferase, the quantum yields of luciferase and the luciferin-H202 adduct were found to be 0.63 and 0.03, respectively (Rudie et al., 1981). The aldehyde group of luciferin is probably converted into the corresponding acid in the luminescence reaction, although it has not been experimentally confirmed. 

Assay of the activities of luciferin and luciferase. Small volumes (5-50 xl) of luciferase and luciferin (Section 8.2.4) are mixed in 2 ml of 0.2 M citrate buffer, pH 6.3, or 0.2 M phosphate buffer, pH 8. The measurement is made in terms of the total light emission or the initial maximum light intensity that is reached within a few seconds. The... 

According to Dure and Cormier (1961, 1963) and Cormier and Dure (1963), they made the preparations of luciferase and luciferin from Balanoglossus biminiensis, collected on Sapelo Island, Georgia, and investigated the luciferin-luciferase reaction, as summarized below. 

Characteristics of the Balanoglossus bioluminescence. The luciferin of Balanoglossus emits light in the presence of Balanoglossus luciferase and H2O2. In the luminescence reaction, the apparent Km for... 

Fig. 10.4.2 The effects of temperature (left panel) and pH (right panel) on the peak intensities of the Balanoglossus luminescence reaction. In the measurements of the temperature effect, 0.5 ml of 0.176 mM H2O2 was injected into a mixture of 1.2 ml of 0.5 M Tris buffer (pH 8.2), 0.3 ml of luciferase, and 1 ml of luciferin, at various temperatures. For the pH effect, the Tris buffer (pH 8.2) was replaced with the Tris buffers and phosphate buffers that have various pH values, and the measurements were made at room temperature. From Dure and Cormier, 1963, with permission from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Effect of pH. The light emission from most bioluminescence systems is affected by the pH of the medium, and some luciferases and photoproteins can be made inactive at certain pH ranges without resulting in permanent inactivation. For example, the luminescence of euphausiids can be quenched at pH 6, the luminescence of aequorin can be suppressed at pH 4.2-4A, and the luciferase of the decapod shrimp Oplophorus becomes inactive at about pH 4. In the case of Cypridina luminescence, however, the acidification of an extract to below pH 5 results in an irreversible inactivation of the luciferase. 

In some luminous organisms, luciferases and photoproteins exist in particulate forms that are insoluble in water or common buffer solutions, resembling membrane proteins. The protein is probably highly aggregated or bound to an insoluble material thus, the protein... 

Coelenterazine can be detected and measured with a coelenterazine luciferase, i.e. a luciferase specific to coelenterazine. As the coelenterazine luciferase, the luciferases from the sea pansy Renilla and the copepods Gaussia and Pleuromamma are commercially available. Certain kinds of decapod shrimps, such as Oplophoms and Heterocarpus, contain a large amount of luciferase, and the luciferases purified from them are most satisfactory for the assay of coelenterazine considering their high activities and high quantum yields. Even partially purified preparations of these luciferases are satisfactory for most measurements. The author routinely uses purified Oplophoms luciferase. 

Coelenterazine and the corresponding luciferase can be easily tested in the field. A small piece of tissue sample is put in a test tube with methanol (for coelenterazine) or water (for luciferase), and crushed with a spatula. To measure coelenterazine, a buffer solution containing a coelenterazine luciferase is injected into a small amount of the fluid part of the crushed sample mixture. Similarly, luciferase can be measured with a buffer solution containing coelenterazine. The presence of Cypridina luciferin can be tested in the same fashion, with the methanol extract of samples and crude Cypridina luciferase. However, the detection of a very weak Cypridina luciferase activity in the field is not recommended (see Section C5.6). To test the presence of a Ca2+-sensitive photoprotein, crush a sample in a neutral buffer solution containing 20-50 mM EDTA, and then add lOmM calcium acetate to a small portion of the fluid part of the crushed sample to detect any light emission. 

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