Luciferase Assays
Bioluminescence tools for gene expression, promoter activity and cell viability: single and dual reporter reagents, ATP viability assays for 2D and 3D culture, and D-luciferin for in vivo imaging.
Mono-Lux for routine single-reagent screening, Brite-Lux for the fastest read, Stable-Lux for the longest signal, and Bio-Lux for cell-based potency and ADCC bioassays.
Duo-Lux and the Dual Luciferase Reporter Assay Kit read firefly and Renilla from the same well to normalise for transfection efficiency.
CellQuant-Lux 2.0 measures ATP in 2D culture and CellQuant-Lux 3D in spheroids and organoids. VivoGenie-Lux D-luciferin is for imaging in live animals.
Luciferase enzymes, most often firefly or Renilla, emit light when they oxidise a luciferin substrate. Light output is proportional to the amount of enzyme, so luciferase acts as a quantitative reporter of promoter activity or gene expression. Because the firefly reaction needs ATP, the same chemistry is used to count viable cells.
Glow-type reagents give a long-lived signal rather than a brief flash, typically a 30 to 55 minute half-life across the Lux range, so a full plate or a batch of plates reads consistently from the first well to the last. See each datasheet for its stated signal window.
Add the luciferase reagent directly to cells in culture medium.
Lysis and signal generation take a few minutes at room temperature.
Measure on a luminometer or a plate reader with luminescence detection.
It quantifies promoter or gene-expression activity by linking a regulatory sequence to a luciferase gene; light output reflects expression.
A second control luciferase, such as Renilla alongside firefly, normalises for transfection efficiency and sample variation.
Start from the read-out. For routine reporter screening choose Mono-Lux, Brite-Lux or Stable-Lux; for normalised firefly and Renilla data choose Duo-Lux or the Dual Luciferase Reporter Assay Kit; for ATP viability choose CellQuant-Lux 2.0 or 3D; for live-animal imaging choose VivoGenie-Lux D-luciferin.
ATP-dependent luciferase reactions emit light in proportion to ATP, which reflects the number of metabolically active cells.