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Luciferase Reporter Gene Assays

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

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Synonyms

Bioluminescent reporter gene assays

Definition

Luciferase reporter gene assays monitor the transcription of specific genes in cells and in vivo through the detection of light generated by the enzyme luciferase. Their primary uses are for mapping the control regions of genes, for measuring signal transduction pathways modulated by hormones or disease, as a tool in gene therapy and drug discovery, and for noninvasive whole-animal imaging.

Characteristics

Luciferase reporter gene assays are a type of reporter gene assay that utilize the light generated by one of a family of enzymes known as luciferases. Reporter genes are essential tools in the study of gene expression and regulation, as they are designed to function as surrogates for genes involved in key cellular processes and disease. To achieve this role, they are engineered so that their expression is directly correlated with the expression of the gene to be studied, but they have the advantage that they are easier to...

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References

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See Also

  • (2012) Chemical Tool. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp 763–764. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_1060

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  • (2012) Orphan GPCR. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 2656. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_4261

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) Pharmacokinetics. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 2845. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_4500

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) Protein-fragment Complementation Assays. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 3099. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_4797

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) Reporter Gene Assays. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 3263. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_5046

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pfizer Research Technology Center, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Paul Bauer

Authors
  1. Paul Bauer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul Bauer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Bauer, P. (2014). Luciferase Reporter Gene Assays. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_3430-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_3430-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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