Chemically modified firefly luciferase is an efficient source of near-infrared light

Bioluminescence and bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) are two naturally occurring light emission phenomena that have been adapted to a wide variety of important research applications including in vivo imaging and enzyme assays. The luciferase enzyme from the North American firefly, which produces yellow-green light, is a key component of many of these applications. Recognizing the heightened interest in the potential of near-infrared (nIR) light to improve these technologies, we have demonstrated that spectral emissions with maxima of 705 and 783 nm can be efficiently produced by a firefly luciferase variant covalently labeled with nIR fluorescent dyes. In one case, an outstanding BRET ratio of 34.0 was achieved emphasizing the importance of selective labeling with fluorescent dyes and the efficiency provided by the intramolecular BRET process. Additionally, we constructed a biotinylated fusion protein that similarly produced nIR light. This novel material was immobilized on solid supports containing streptavidin, demonstrating, in principle, that it may be used for receptor-based imaging. Also, the matrix-bound labeled fusion protein was used to measure factor Xa activity at physiological concentrations in blood. We believe this to be the first report of bright nIR light sources produced by chemical modification of a beetle luciferase.     

The production of oxyluciferin during the firefly luciferase light reaction.

The luciferase-product complex (E · P) was isolated from the reaction mixture after light emission had occurred. The spectral properties of the product in the E · P complex are similar to those of oxyluciferin, with a broad absorption at 385 nm. The enzyme from the complex regains full activity upon the addition of substrates. The product is not covalently bound to the enzyme and readily dissociates in the presence of 6 m urea. The isolated E · P complex was found to have 1 mol of oxyluciferin per 100,000 daltons of luciferase. No AMP could be detected in the E·P complex unless inorganic pyrophosphatase was present during the reaction. In that case 1 mol of AMP per 100,000 daltons was found.Stopped flow studies showed that an increase in 385 nm absorption occurred concomitant with light emission. Measurement of the initial rate of product formation and the rate of photon emission showed they were identical, suggesting that oxyluciferin is indeed the light-emitting product. In the initial burst of the reaction two oxyluciferin moles per 100,000 daltons of luciferase are formed. A plot of the log of the initial rate of product formation was biphasic, indicating that the first mole of product is formed at a faster rate than the second. These results are consistent with previous experiments. However, they do not resolve the question of the molecular weight of the catalytically active species.     

Inhibition of firefly luciferase by alkane analogues

We reported that anesthetics increased the partial molal volume of firefly luciferase (FFL), while long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) decreased it. The present study measured the actions of dodecanol (neutral), dodecanoic acid (negatively charged), and dodecylamine (positively charged) hydrophobic molecules on FFL. The interaction modes are measured by (1) ATP-induced bioluminescence of FFL and (2) fluorescence of 2-(p-toluidino)naphthalene-6-sulfonate (TNS). TNS fluoresces brightly in hydrophobic media. It competes with the substrate luciferin on the FFL binding. From the Scatchard plot of TNS titration, the maximum binding number of TNS was 0.83, and its binding constant was 8.27 x 10(5) M(-1). Job's plot also showed that the binding number is 0.89. From the TNS titration of FFL, the binding constant was estimated to be 8.8 x 10(5) M(-1). Dodecanoic acid quenched the TNS fluorescence entirely. Dodecanol quenched about 25% of the fluorescence, whereas dodecylamine increased it. By comparing the fluorescence of TNS and bioluminescence of FFL, the binding modes and the inhibition mechanisms of these dodecane analogues are classified in three different modes: competitive (dodecanoic acid), noncompetitive (dodecylamine), and mixed (dodecanol).     

Sodium butyrate stimulates the synthesis of firefly luciferase in transfected CHO cells but levels of BiP chaperone are unaffected

A stably transfected CHO cell line (LUCLEAD) was used where the coding region of native Firefly luciferase was linked to the 3'-UTR of the bovine growth hormone, and the 5'-nucleotides coding for the albumin signal peptide were linked to the N-terminal end of the luciferase coding region. Incubation of cells with 1 or 2 mM sodium butyrate (SB) for 72 h had no effect on cell growth since cultures reached confluency at the same time as control cells. Although cell cultures incubated with SB at a concentration of 4 mM were only about 60% confluent the luciferase content was about 5-fold higher than that in control cells. Cells incubated with either 1 or 2 mM SB showed intermediate levels of luciferase content. The amount of the chaperone BiP in the cells was not affected by incubation with SB. The results indicate that SB can be used to effectively promote synthesis of recombinant luciferase.     

The carboxyl-terminal tripeptide serine-lysine-leucine of firefly luciferase is necessary but not sufficient for peroxisomal import in yeast.

Firefly luciferase is imported into peroxisomes in insects, mammals, plants, and yeast, which implies that the mechanism of protein translocation into peroxisomes has been conserved during eukaryotic evolution. The carboxyl-terminal tripeptide serine-lysine-leucine in luciferase acts as a peroxisomal import signal in mammalian cells. We have investigated whether this tripeptide is also involved in translocation of firefly luciferase into peroxisomes in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). We show by gene fusion experiments that the carboxyl-terminal 104 amino acids of luciferase can direct a heterologous protein to yeast peroxisomes. Luciferase mutant proteins were tested for their ability to be imported into yeast peroxisomes in vivo. We demonstrate that mutations in the carboxyl-terminal serine-lysine-leucine tripeptide abolish translocation of the protein into yeast peroxisomes. However, when a passenger protein was tagged at its carboxyl terminus with this tripeptide the fusion protein did not go to peroxisomes. These results indicate that, in yeast, the tripeptide is necessary but not sufficient for peroxisomal import.     

Factors affecting the kinetics of light emission from crude and purified firefly luciferase.

Crude and purified firefly luciferase have been used to assay ATP from 0.2 pmol to 2 μmol. Over this range of ATP concentrations, there is a large change in the kinetics of light emission. At the lowest concentrations of ATP, light emission rises to a maximum and remains constant for a minute or longer. As the concentration of ATP is increased, the peak light intensity increases and the decay rate of light increases significantly. This is true for both the crude as well as the purified enzyme. High concentration of sodium arsenate as well as other salts inhibit the peak light emission and prevent the decay in light intensity which is due to product inhibition. It is possible to obtain almost any type of kinetics by manipulating the experimental conditions.     

Synthesis of dinucleoside polyphosphates catalyzed by firefly luciferase.

In the presence of ATP, luciferin (LH2), Mg2+ and pyrophosphatase, the firefly (Photinus pyralis) luciferase synthesizes diadenosine 5',5"'-P1,P4-tetraphosphate (Ap4A) through formation of the E-LH2-AMP complex and transfer of AMP to ATP. The maximum rate of the synthesis is observed at pH 5.7. The Km values for luciferin and ATP are 2-3 microM and 4 mM, respectively. The synthesis is strictly dependent upon luciferin and a divalent metal cation. Mg2+ can be substituted with Zn2+, Co2+ or Mn2+, which are about half as active as Mg2+, as well as with Ni2+, Cd2+ or Ca2+, which, at 5 mM concentration, are 12-20-fold less effective than Mg2+. ATP is the best substrate of the above reaction, but it can be substituted with adenosine 5'-tetraphosphate (p4A), dATP, and GTP, and thus the luciferase synthesizes the corresponding homo-dinucleoside polyphosphates:diadenosine 5',5"'-P1,P5-pentaphosphate (Ap5A), dideoxyadenosine 5',5"'-P1,P4-tetraphosphate (dAp4dA) and diguanosine 5',5"'-P1,P4-tetraphosphate (Gp4G). In standard reaction mixtures containing ATP and a different nucleotide (p4A, dATP, adenosine 5'-[alpha,beta-methylene]-triphosphate, (Ap[CH2]pp), (S')-adenosine-5'-[alpha-thio]triphosphate [Sp)ATP[alpha S]) and GTP], luciferase synthesizes, in addition to Ap4A, the corresponding hetero-dinucleoside polyphosphates, Ap5A, adenosine 5',5"'-P1,P4-tetraphosphodeoxyadenosine (Ap4dA), diadenosine 5',5"'-P1,P4-[alpha,beta-methylene] tetraphosphate (Ap[CH2]pppA), (Sp-diadenosine 5',5"'-P1,P4-[alpha-thio]tetraphosphate [Sp)Ap4A[alpha S]) and adenosine-5',5"'-P1,P4-tetraphosphoguanosine (Ap4G), respectively. Adenine nucleotides, with at least a 3-phosphate chain and with an intact alpha-phosphate, are the preferred substrates for the formation of the enzyme-nucleotidyl complex. Nucleotides best accepting AMP from the E-LH2-AMP complex are those which contain at least a 3-phosphate chain and an intact terminal pyrophosphate moiety. ADP or other NDP are poor adenylate acceptors as very little diadenosine 5',5"'-P1,P3-triphosphate (Ap3A) or adenosine-5',5"'-P1,P3-triphosphonucleosides (Ap3N) are formed. In the presence of NTP (excepting ATP), luciferase is able to split Ap4A, transferring the resulting adenylate to NTP, to form hetero-dinucleoside polyphosphates. In the presence of PPi, luciferase is also able to split Ap4A, yielding ATP. The cleavage of Ap4A in the presence of Pi or ADP takes place at a very low rate. The synthesis of dinucleoside polyphosphates, catalyzed by firefly luciferase, is compared with that catalyzed by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and Ap4A phosphorylase.     

Stabilization of firefly luciferase against thermal stress by osmolytes

The effects of osmolytes, including sucrose, sorbitol and proline on the remaining activity of firefly luciferase were measured. Heat inactivation studies showed that these osmolytes maintain the remaining activity of enzyme and increase activation energy of thermal unfolding reaction. Fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) experiments showed changes in secondary and tertiary structure of firefly luciferase, in the presence of sucrose, sorbitol and proline. The unfolding curves of luciferase (obtained by far-UV CD spectra), indicated an irreversible thermal denaturation and raising of the midpoint of the unfolding transition temperature (T(m)) in the presence of osmolytes.     

Enhancement of firefly luciferase activity by cytidine nucleotides.

The temporal pattern of light production by firefly luciferase depends on the ATP concentration. With low concentrations of ATP a constant production of light occurred while at high concentrations of ATP (greater than 10 microM) there was a flash of light followed by a decline in light production. This time course of light production with high ATP concentrations was changed from the flash pattern to a pattern with a constant production of light by several cytidine nucleotides. CTP, CDP, dCTP, dCDP, dideoxyCTP, periodate-oxidized CTP and CDP, and the etheno derivatives of CTP and CDP produced that change. CMP, cytidine, CDP-glycerol, CDP-glucose, CDP-ethanolamine, and benzoylbenzoylCTP either were inhibitory to firefly luciferase or were not effective in changing the flash time course. Coenzyme A and related compounds also changed the time course of light production. The changes in time course produced by either cytidine nucleotides or CoA were inhibited by desulfoCoA. These compounds apparently enhanced light production by promoting the dissociation of the inhibitory product, oxidized luciferin, from the enzyme. When the activating compounds were used with high concentrations of ATP, the sensitivity of assay for firefly luciferase was increased. This increased sensitivity is important when using the firefly luciferase gene as a reporter.     

Isolation and characterization of mutants of firefly luciferase which produce different colors of light

The luciferase cDNA from the 'Genji' firefly, Luciola cruciata, was mutated with hydroxylamine to isolate mutant luciferases. Some of the isolated mutant enzymes produced different colors of light, ranging from green to red. Five such mutants, producing green (lambda max = 558 nm), yellow-orange (lambda max = 595 nm), orange (lambda max = 607 nm) and red light (lambda max = 609 and 612 nm), were analyzed. The mutations were found to be single amino acid changes, from Val239 to Ile, Pro452 to Ser, Ser286 to Asn, Gly326 to Ser and His433 to Tyr respectively.     

Continous monitoring of ATP-converting reactions by purified firefly luciferase.

The time course of the bioluminescence obtained with a partially purified firefly luciferase preparation has been studied. At ATP levels less than 10^?6m the light emission could be maintained essentially constant for several minutes, if the luciferase was not subjected to product inhibition or other inactivating processes. This could be achieved by performing the reaction at appropriate pH and concentration of luciferin and luciferase. Under these conditions continuous measurement of light emission may be used for nondestructive monitoring of ATP-converting reactions, since the emission will be proportional to the ATP concentration in each instant. The continuous monitoring of ATP concentration by firefly luciferase was used for kinetic determination of enzymes and metabolites and for endpoint analysis of metabolites. It was found to be extremely sensitive and convenlent for routine applications.     

Mutant firefly luciferase enzymes resistant to the inhibition by sodium chloride

Objectives

Firefly luciferase, one of the most extensively studied enzymes, has numerous applications. However, luciferase activity is inhibited by sodium chloride. This study was aimed at obtaining mutant luciferase enzymes resistant to the sodium chloride inhibition.

Results

We first obtained two mutant luciferase enzymes whose inhibition were alleviated and determined the mutations to be Val288Ile and Glu488Val. Under medical dialysis condition (140 mM sodium chloride), the wild type was inhibited to 44% of its original activity level. In contrast, the single mutants, Val288Ile and Glu488Val, retained 67% and 79% of their original activity, respectively. Next, we introduced Val288Ile and Glu488Val mutations into wild-type luciferase to create a double mutant using site-directed mutagenesis. Notably, the double mutant retained its activity more than 95% of that in the absence of sodium chloride.

Conclusions

The mutant luciferase, named luciferase CR, was found to retain its activity in various concentrations of sodium chloride. The luciferase CR may be extensively useful in any bioassay which includes firefly luciferase and is employed in the presence of sodium chloride.

     

Kinetics of inhibition of firefly luciferase by oxyluciferin and dehydroluciferyl-adenylate

The inhibition mechanisms of the firefly luciferase (Luc) by the two major products of the reactions catalysed by Luc, oxyluciferin and dehydroluciferyl-adenylate (L-AMP), were investigated. Light production in the presence and absence of these inhibitors (0.5 to 2 muM oxyluciferin; 0.0025 to 1.25 muM L-AMP) has been measured in 50 mM Hepes buffer (pH = 7.5), 10 nM Luc, 250 muM ATP and d-Luciferin (from 3.75 up to 120 muM). Nonlinear regression analysis with the appropriate kinetic models (Henri-Michaelis-Menten and William-Morrison equations) reveals that oxyluciferin is a competitive inhibitor of luciferase (K(i) = 0.50 +/- 0.03 muM) while L-AMP act as a tight-binding competitive inhibitor (K(i) = 3.8 +/- 0.7 nM). The K(m) values obtained both for oxyluciferin and L-AMP were 14.7 +/- 0.7 and 14.9 +/- 0.2 muM, respectively. L-AMP is a stronger inhibitor of Luc than oxyluciferin and the major responsible for the characteristic flash profile of in vitro Luc bioluminescence.     

Enantiodifferentiation of ketoprofen by Japanese firefly luciferase from Luciola lateralis

Recently, we found that firefly luciferase exhibited (R)-enantioselective thioesterification activity toward 2-arylpropanoic acids. In the case of Japanese firefly luciferase from Luciola lateralis (LUC-H), the E-value for ketoprofen was approximately 20. In this study, we used a spectrophotometric method to measure the catalytic activity of LUC-H. Using this method allowed us to judge the reaction efficiency easily. Our results confirmed that LUC-H exhibits enantioselective thioesterification activity toward a series of 2-arylpropanoic acids. The highest activity was observed with ketoprofen. We also observed high enzymatic activity of LUC-H toward long-chain fatty acids. These results were reasonable because LUC-H is homologous with long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase. To obtain further information about the enantiodifferentiation mechanism of the LUC-H catalyzed thioesterification of ketoprofen, we determined the kinetic parameters of the reaction relative to each of its three substrates: ketoprofen, ATP, and coenzyme A (CoASH). We found that whereas the affinities of each compound are not affected by the chirality of ketoprofen, enantiodifferentiation is achieved by a chirality-dependent difference in the k_cat parameter.