Bioluminiesent
Stable Cell Lines

The gene encoding firefly luciferase is now the gene of choice for in vivo and in vitro reporting of transcriptional activity in eukaryotic cells. Reporter genes either fluorescent or bioluminescent, are a low-cost alternative for real-time analysis of gene expression in small animal models. In fluorescent approaches, an external source of light is required for the excitation of the protein. In contrast, bioluminescent reporter proteins can only produce light by using the appropriate substrates.

Bioluminescent tumor cell lines are critical to cancer investigation, especially imaging of tumors in xenografted animals.  They are used for assessing the dissemination of tumor cells in the body of xenografted mice as well as tumor growth or regression under treatment.  Although various types of reporter genes encoding fluorescent proteins have been reported, stable expression of exogenous luciferase in tumor cells combined with systemic injection of luciferin provides an excellent tool for external optical imaging.  Signosis has generated a number of tumor cell lines expressing luciferase genes, facilitating evaluation of novel therapeutic modalities. These cell lines can be used to monitor carcinogenesis and tumor progression during metastasis or compare highly invasive and non-invasive tumor cells. It would be also a great tool for studying the relationship between tumor cells and their specific microenvironments during metastasis. In addition, bioluminescent tumor cell lines can be used to develop an in vitro luciferase activity-based assay, as a positive control for luciferase activity, or to test if experimental conditions affect luciferase expression.