An optimized bioluminescent substrate for non-invasive imaging in the brain | Nature Chemical Biology

Brain imaging using the compact NanoLuc luciferase has been stymied by the lack of suitable substrates. Su et al. report a brain-optimized substrate, cephalofurimazine, and use it to perform non-invasive calcium imaging of neuronal activity.

Download PDF Subjects Chemical tools Imaging Neuroscience Abstract Bioluminescence imaging (BLI) allows non-invasive visualization of cells and biochemical events in vivo and thus has become an indispensable technique in biomedical research. However, BLI in the central nervous system remains challenging because luciferases show relatively poor performance in the brain with existing substrates. Here, we report the discovery of a NanoLuc substrate with improved brain performance, cephalofurimazine (CFz). CFz paired with Antares luciferase produces greater than 20-fold more signal from the brain

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