Photoactivable bioluminescent probes for imaging luciferase activity

摘要

A set of stable and efficient photoactivable bioluminescent probes for imaging luciferase activity has been developed, which displayed robust bioluminescent signals upon brief UV illumination in buffer, cells and living animals.rnThe firefly luciferase (fLuc) has been widely utilized for optical reporter gene imaging in biochemical assays, cell culture and living animals. fLuc can catalyze the oxidation of its substrate D-luciferin in the presence of O_2, ATP, and Mg~(2+) to generate the bioluminescence that can be imaged by a CCD camera.1 The luciferase based bioluminescence imaging technique displays low background and high sensitivity compared to fluorescence imaging modality, since fLuc nonexpression cells and tissues do not produce significant bioluminescence during normal cellular processes.