Team:IONIS Paris/Project/BioLuminescence

BIOLUMINESCENCE

What is Bioluminescence?

A fast detection system involving chemical processes

One other method of fast detection that we want to use in our Bio-Console is bioluminescence. This trait found in several marine bacteria emits light by the mean of biochemical mechanisms involving chemical processes. It is important to make the distinction between fluorescence and bioluminescence. In fluorescence, a high energy photon excites a molecule to an excited state which makes the latter lose energy. This loss leads to the release of a visible photon and the drop to the original groundstate of the molecule. Bioluminescence involves an oxygen oxidation of an organic molecule. A luciferase catalyzes the oxidation of luciferin to excited state oxyluciferin which release a visible photon (Shreeram Akilesh, Bioluminescence: Nature’s Bright Idea,2000).

Luciferase: an essential enzyme for bioluminescence

Firefly (Fluc, 61 kDa) and Renilla (Rluc, 36 kDa) luciferases have been used for a huge amount of applications such as for the study of molecular and cellular processes. Given this fact, researchers tried to investigate alternative luciferases from marine organisms and achieve a more optimal enzyme structure which could explore other variants of luminogenic substrate. Furthermore, as most of the luciferases come from marine organisms, the substrate the most used is coelenterazine.

			
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NanoLuc for a brighter luminescence

NanoLuc properties

NanoLuc (Nluc) is a novel engineered luciferase coupled with a novel coelenterazine analogue: Furimazine. When both are coupled, we obtain a much brighter luminescence than Fluc or Rluc and it is known to work exceptionally well as a reporter.
NanoLuc is a 19.1 kDa enzyme which is an ATP independent luciferase providing a glow-type luminescence.

Thermal stable enzyme

NanoLuc retains activity following 30 min incubation at 55 °C.

Active over broad pH range

NanoLuc is fully active between pH 7-9 and retains significant activity at pH 5-7.

Monomeric enzyme

NanoLuc facilitates use as transcriptional reporter or fusion partner.

Kyle Hooper, Ph.D, Applications of a smaller, brighter, more versatile luciferase:NanoLuc™ Luciferase Technology, 2012

References

Kyle Hooper, Ph.D, Applications of a smaller, brighter, more versatile luciferase:NanoLuc™ Luciferase Technology, 2012
Shreeram Akilesh, Bioluminescence: Nature’s Bright Idea,2000.