Luciferase reporter genes: How to use them in molecular biology?
Bioluminescence is a powerful imaging modality for monitoring molecular and cellular features in real time [1]. Luciferases , known as bioluminescent enzymes, can catalyze the oxidation of small molecule substrates, such as luciferins, to release visible light. Currently, the luciferase reporter gene is a highly versatile tool for in vitro and in vivo assays and the corresponding reporter assay is extremely sensitive, reproducible. Therefore, luciferases have been employed as efficient reporters in a wide range of applications, including gene regulation and signaling, protein-protein interactions, drug screening, molecular imaging, cell-based assays, and noninvasive in vivo imaging [2-3]. Luciferases Luciferases originates from luminescent organisms, such as terrestrial and marine organisms. And here luciferases are mainly classified into two categories: D-luciferin-dependent luciferases and coelenterazine-depen...