TechnicalManualDual-Luciferase®ReporterAssaySystemINSTRUCTIONSFORUSEOFPRODUCTSE1910ANDE1960.PRINTEDINUSA.Revised8/06Part#TM040AF9TM0400806TM040tm040.0806.qxp8/11/20062:49PMPage1PromegaCorporation·2800WoodsHollowRoad·Madison,WI53711-5399USATollFreeinUSA800-356-9526·Phone608-274-4330·Fax608-277-2516·®ReporterAssayChemistry...................................................3B.FormatoftheDual-Luciferase®ReporterAssay.............................................5C.PassiveLysisBuffer.............................................................................................6II.ProductComponentsandStorageConditions............................................8III.ThepGL4LuciferaseReporterVectors.........................................................9A.DescriptionofpGL4Vectors..............................................................................9B.ImportantConsiderationsforCo-TransfectionExperiments........................9IV.InstrumentConsiderations............................................................................10A.Single-SampleLuminometers...........................................................................10B.Multi-SampleandPlate-ReadingLuminometers..........................................10C.ScintillationCounters.........................................................................................11V.PreparationofCellLysatesUsingPassiveLysisBuffer..........................12A.PassiveLysisBufferPreparation.....................................................................12B.PassiveLysisofCellsCulturedinMultiwellPlates.....................................12C.ActiveLysisofCellsbyScraping....................................................................13VI.Dual-Luciferase®ReporterAssayProtocol.................................................14A.PreparationofLuciferaseAssayReagentII...................................................14B.PreparationofStop&Glo®Reagent...............................................................15C.StandardProtocol...............................................................................................15D.ImportantConsiderationsforCleaningReagentInjectors..........................18E.DeterminationofAssayBackgrounds............................................................19VII.References.........................................................................................................21VIII.Appendix...........................................................................................................22A.CompositionofBuffersandSolutions............................................................22B.RelatedProducts.................................................................................................22Dual-Luciferase®ReporterAssaySystemAlltechnicalliteratureisavailableontheInternetat::techserv@promega.com.tm040.0806.qxp8/11/20062:49PMPage1I.DescriptionGeneticreportersystemsarewidelyusedtostudyeukaryoticgeneexpressionandcellularphysiology.Applicationsincludethestudyofreceptoractivity,transcriptionfactors,intracellularsignaling,mRNAprocessingandproteinfolding.Dualreportersarecommonlyusedtoimproveexperimentalaccuracy.Thetermdualreporterreferstothesimultaneousexpressionandmeasurementoftwoindividualreporterenzymeswithinasinglesystem.Typically,theexperimentalreporteriscorrelatedwiththeeffectofspecificexperimentalconditions,whiletheactivityoftheco-transfectedcontrolreporterprovidesaninternalcontrolthatservesasthebaselineresponse.Normalizingtheactivityoftheexperimentalreportertotheactivityoftheinternalcontrolminimizesexperimentalvariabilitycausedbydifferencesincellviabilityortransfectionefficiency.Othersourcesofvariability,suchasdifferencesinpipettingvolumes,celllysisefficiencyandassayefficiency,canbeeffectivelyeliminated.Thus,dual-reporterassaysoftenallowmorereliableinterpretationoftheexperimentaldatabyreducingextraneousinfluences.TheDual-Luciferase®Reporter(DLR)AssaySystem(ae)providesanefficientmeansofperformingdual-reporterassays.IntheDLRAssay,theactivitiesoffirefly(Photinuspyralis)andRenilla(Renillareniformis,alsoknownasseapansy)luciferasesaremeasuredsequentiallyfromasinglesample.ThefireflyluciferasereporterismeasuredfirstbyaddingLuciferaseAssayReagentII(LARII)togenerateastabilizedluminescentsignal.Afterquantifyingthefireflyluminescence,thisreactionisquenched,andtheRenillaluciferasereactionissimultaneouslyinitiatedbyaddingStop&Glo®Reagenttothesametube.TheStop&Glo®ReagentalsoproducesastabilizedsignalfromtheRenillaluciferase,whichdecaysslowlyoverthecourseofthemeasurement.IntheDLRAssaySystem,bothreportersyieldlinearassayswithsubattomolesensitivities