Fireflies, enlightening our knowledge of drug safety

​Photinus pyralis, commonly called fireflies or lightning bugs, use bioluminescence to attract mates or prey. To do this, they produce an enzyme, a luciferase, which catalyses a reaction resulting in the production of light. In pharmacological studies, this enzyme can be used to study the interaction of a drug with its target or with other components of the cells.¹ Similarly, luciferases from Oplophorus gracilirostris, a deep sea shrimp emitting light as a defence mechanism, or Renilla luciferases, derived from a sea pansy, can be used to study the interaction between drugs and their targets.¹ In my project, I use luciferases to study how anticancer drugs affect receptors that are involved in the development of cardiovascular side effects. In isolated human kidney cells where a luciferase is attached to the receptor, we can measure the amount of light that is produced by these cells after drug treatment.^2,3 In this way, we determine how strongly or weakly the drug is binding to the receptor and we gather information on the side effects patients might have when taking these drugs.^1–3  

References:

1. Hall MP, Unch J, Binkowski BF, et al. Engineered luciferase reporter from a deep sea shrimp utilizing a novel imidazopyrazinone substrate. ACS Chem Biol 2012; 7: 1848–1857. 
2. Carter JJ, Wheal AJ, Hill SJ, et al. Effects of receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors on VEGF165a- and VEGF165b-stimulated gene transcription in HEK-293 cells expressing human VEGFR2. Br J Pharmacol 2015; 172: 3141–3150. 
3. Kilpatrick LE, Alcobia DC, White CW, et al. Complex Formation between VEGFR2 and the β2-Adrenoceptor. Cell Chem Biol 2019; 26: 830-841.e9.