Luciferase Substrates

Luciferase substrates are required to generate detectable signals in reporter assays involving luciferase. Such applications include the luciferase assays for gene expression and other cell-based assays. D-Luciferin (particularly firefly luciferin) is perhaps the most common luciferase substrate, but coelenterazine is another chemiluminescent compound catalyzed by luciferase. Coelenterazine may be used to monitor cellular calcium, detect superoxide anions, and other applications involving bioluminescence.