Renilla Luciferase Assays & Vectors

We offer luciferase reporter reagents, multiple cloning site vectors, and flash, glow and dual-spectral luciferase assay kits based on the intracellularly expressed Renilla luciferase. The Green Renilla luciferase is a 36kDa protein produced by a derivative of the wild type Renilla luciferase from the sea pansy, Renilla reniformis.

Compared to the wild type luciferase, Green Renilla is more stable in serum and has an emission spectrum that is shifted toward the green region. The protein provides extremely bright flash signal that decays rapidly. The Thermo Scientific™ Pierce™ Renilla Flash Assay Kit reagent optimizes this signal for use in flash-type luciferase reporter assays. The kit also is compatible for flash assays with other Renilla luciferases and derivatives that use coelenterazine as a substrate. 

The Renilla Glow Assay Kit reagent effectively stabilizes this bright bioluminescence to yield a signal half-life greater than 3 hours, thus eliminating the need for a luminometer with injectors. The assay kit was optimized for best results with Green Renilla Luc Plasmids; however, this glow kit may be used to detect the activity of other Renilla luciferase derivatives that use coelenterazine as a substrate.

The Renilla-Firefly Luciferase Dual Assay Kit provides the necessary reagents to simultaneously detect intracellular Renilla and Red Firefly luciferase activity in mammalian whole cell lysates. Green Renilla produces brighter bioluminescent signal than firefly and native Renilla luciferases. The bioluminescent signal (λmax= 535nm) produced by Green Renilla luciferase protein results from the oxidation of coelenterazine. The second assay uses red firefly luciferase, which is a mutant form of the Japanese firefly luciferase Luciola cruciata. This luciferase produces a red-shifted emission spectrum (λmax= 613nm) that results from the oxidation of D-luciferin in the presence of ATP.

Coelenterazine is oxidized by Renilla luciferase to produce coelenteramide, carbon dioxide, and light.