Homogeneous, bioluminescent protease assays: caspase-3 as a model.

Using caspase-3 as a model, the authors have developed a strategy for highly sensitive, homogeneous protease assays suitable for high-throughput, automated applications. The assay uses peptide-conjugated aminoluciferin as the protease substrate and a firefly luciferase that has been molecularly evolved for increased stability. By combining the proluminescent caspase-3 substrate, Z-DEVD-aminoluciferin, with a stabilized luciferase in a homogeneous format, the authors developed an assay that is significantly faster and more sensitive than fluorescent caspase-3 assays. The assay has a single-step format, in which protease cleavage of the substrate and luciferase oxidation of the aminoluciferin occurs simultaneously. Because these processes are coupled, they rapidly achieve steady state to maintain stable luminescence for several hours. Maximum sensitivity is attained when this steady state occurs; consequently, this coupled-enzyme system results in a very rapid assay. The homogeneous format inherently removes trace contamination by free aminoluciferin, resulting in extremely low background and yielding exceptionally high signal-to-noise ratios and excellent Z' factors. Another advantage of a luminescent format is that it avoids problems of cell autofluorescence or fluorescence interference that can be associated with synthetic chemical and natural product libraries. This bioluminescent, homogeneous format should be widely applicable to other protease assays.