Red-emitting chimeric firefly luciferase for in?vivo imaging in low ATP cellular environments

摘要

AbstractBeetle luciferases have been adapted for live cell imaging where bioluminescence is dependent on the cellular availability of ATP, O2, and added luciferin. PreviousPhotinus pyralisred-emitting variants with highKmvalues for ATP have performed disappointingly in live cells despite having much higher relative specific activities than enzymes like Click Beetle Red (CBR). We engineered a luciferase variant PLR3 having aKmvalue for ATP similar to CBR and ～2.6-fold higher specific activity. The red-emitting PLR3 was ～2.5-fold brighter than CBR in living HEK293T and HeLa cells, an improvement consistent with the importance of theKmvalue in low ATP environments.]]>