Interaction of Dimethyl- and Monomethyloxyluciferin with Recombinant Wild-Type and Mutant Firefly Luciferases

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T. N. Vlasova^*, O. V. Leontieva, and N. N. Ugarova

Faculty of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119992 Moscow, Russia; fax: (7-495) 939-2660; E-mail: vtn7@yandex.ru

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received October 18, 2005; Revision received January 17, 2006

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Dissociation constants (K_s) in the pH range 6.5-9.0 for complexes of luciferin, dimethyloxyluciferin (DMOL), and monomethylluciferin (MMOL) with recombinant wild-type and mutant (His433Tyr) luciferases from the Luciola mingrelica firefly were determined by fluorescent titration. The protonated effectors were bound by the wild-type and mutant luciferases better than the nonprotonated ones. The affinity of DMOL for the mutant luciferase was higher than for the wild-type luciferase at alkaline pH, whereas the affinity of MMOL was higher at all pH values studied. The fluorescence emission and excitation spectra of DMOL and MMOL in buffer solution (pH 7.8) were obtained in the absence and presence of luciferase. The fluorescence maxima of DMOL and MMOL complexes with luciferase were 20 and 100 nm, respectively, shifted to shorter wavelengths as compared to the values in buffer solution. This was explained by nonspecific and specific influence of the protein microenvironment on the fluorescence spectra of DMOL and its specific influence on the MMOL fluorescence spectra.

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KEY WORDS: firefly luciferase, bioluminescence, fluorescence, luciferin, oxyluciferin, monomethyloxyluciferin, dimethyloxyluciferin

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297906050142

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