D-Luciferin, Potassium Salt

Luciferin is a common substrate for the bioluminescent reporter gene luciferase used in in vivo imaging. The mechanism involves luciferase catalyzing the oxidation of luciferin to oxyluciferin in the presence of Mg²⁺ and O₂, which generates bioluminescence during the oxidation process. The emitted bioluminescence is then measured using a chemiluminescence analyzer or a liquid scintillation counter.
Currently, there are three forms of luciferin available on the market: D-luciferin (free acid), D-luciferin potassium salt, and D-luciferin sodium salt. The main difference between these products lies in their solubility properties. D-luciferin (free acid) has poor solubility in water and buffer systems, and it needs to be dissolved in weak bases such as NaOH or KOH solutions. It is soluble in methanol (10 mg/mL) and DMSO (50 mg/mL). In contrast, the potassium salt and sodium salt forms of D-luciferin dissolve very easily and quickly in water or buffer solutions, making them convenient to use with non-toxic solvents, especially suitable for in vivo experiments. Once prepared as a solution, these three forms of luciferin do not have substantial differences in most applications.

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