Firefly Luciferase Systems: Molecular Mechanisms, Engineering Advances, and Biomedical Applications

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-910-0_15How to use a DOI?

Keywords

“Firefly luciferase”; “Bioluminescence imaging”; “Luciferin analogues”

Abstract

Firefly luciferase-based systems represent a highly efficient and versatile platform for molecular imaging, biosensing, and functional protein analysis. This study systematically explores the biochemical mechanisms underlying luciferase-catalyzed bioluminescence, highlighting key factors affecting activity, including pH, temperature, and essential cofactors. Advances in luciferin analogues, such as AkaLumine-HCl, have extended emission wavelengths into the near-infrared region, enabling deeper tissue imaging with enhanced sensitivity and reduced autofluorescence. Engineered luciferase mutants demonstrated improved catalytic efficiency and stability, as validated by cellular uptake and in vivo imaging performance. Additionally, luciferase-based assays provide powerful tools for real-time ATP detection, offering insights into cellular energy metabolism and tumor microenvironments. The integration of split-luciferase and BRET systems further expands the application scope to dynamic monitoring of protein–protein interactions with high spatiotemporal resolution. Collectively, these findings deepen our understanding of luciferase’s structure–function relationships and pave the way for next-generation bioluminescent probes with improved performance in biomedical research, diagnostics, and environmental monitoring.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yuyan Wen
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/15
TI  - Firefly Luciferase Systems: Molecular Mechanisms, Engineering Advances, and Biomedical Applications
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 2nd International Symposium on Agricultural Engineering and Biology (ISAEB 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 142
EP  - 149
SN  - 2468-5747
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-910-0_15
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-910-0_15
ID  - Wen2025
ER  -