A Luciferase Assay to Assess JNK1 Activation

LightSwitchTM Luciferase Assay System

Activation of JNK1 contributes to dystrophic muscle pathogenesis

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) originates from deleterious mutations in the dystrophin gene, with a complete loss of the protein product. Subsequently, the disease is manifested in severe striated muscle wasting and death in early adulthood. Dystrophin provides a structural base for the assembly of an integral membrane protein complex. As such, dystrophin deficiency leads to an altered mecha...

Micronucleus assay- an early diagnostic tool to assess genotoxic changes in tobacco and related habits

Objective: Micronuclei are induced in cells by a variety of substances, like UV radiation, infrared rays, X-radiations, and chemicals. Among them tobacco- specific nitrosamines have been reported to be potent mutagenic agents which are thought to be responsible for the induction of chromosomal aberrations resulting in production of micronuclei. The main aim of our study is to compare MN frequen...

Studying Membrane Biogenesis with a Luciferase-Based Reporter Gene Assay

To study the coordination of different lipid synthesis pathways during membrane biogenesis it is useful to work with an experimental system where membrane biogenesis occurs rapidly and in an inducible manner. We have found that phagocytosis of latex beads is practical for these purposes as cells rapidly synthesize membrane lipids to replenish membrane pools lost as wrapping material during part...

A Novel Bioluminescent Protease Assay Using Engineered Firefly Luciferase

Proteases play important roles in a variety of disease processes. Understanding their biological functions underpins the efforts of drug discovery. We have developed a bioluminescent protease assay using a circularly permuted form of firefly luciferase, wherein the native enzyme termini were joined by a peptide containing a protease site of interest. Protease cleavage of these mutant luciferase...