D-Luciferin (potassium salt)

D-Luciferin is a substrate of firefly luciferase. Firefly luciferase can catalyze the oxidative reaction of D-Luciferin in the presence of ATP, Mg2+ and molecular oxygen, emitting a yellow-green light. Luciferin is widely utilized in biotechnology, particularly for in vivo imaging studies. It is used to track tumor cells, stem cells, or pathogens in animals like rats and mice. By injecting luciferin, researchers can monitor disease progression or treatment efficacy in real-time and non-invasively via Bioluminescence Imaging (BLI). Luciferin is also used for in vitro assays, such as luciferase and ATP assays, reporter assays, high-throughput sequencing, and contamination detection.

The three common forms of D-Luciferin are free acid, potassium salt, and sodium salt. The free acid form needs to be dissolved in alkaline solutions such as KOH or NaOH. The potassium and sodium forms are soluble in aqueous buffer. So, potassium and sodium forms are more suitable for various biological experiments, such as in vivo imaging analysis and in vitro bioluminescence detection.