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Assaying NanoLuc Luciferase Activity from mRNA-Injected Xenopus Embryos

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Book cover Vertebrate Embryogenesis

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1920))

Abstract

The earliest steps of animal development depend upon posttranscriptional events that drive the embryonic cell cycle and guide cell fate decisions. The analysis of post-transcriptional regulatory events has relied upon the use of chimeric reporter mRNAs that encode firefly luciferase fused to potential regulatory sequences. A new and more sensitive luciferase developed recently called NanoLuc has the potential to improve reporter studies and provide new insights into the regulation of embryonic processes. Here I describe how to create and analyze reporter mRNAs encoding NanoLuc luciferase using extracts from microinjected Xenopus embryos.

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Acknowledgments

Work in the Sheets lab was supported by NIH grants (R21HD076828, R01HD091921).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Michael D. Sheets

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  1. Michael D. Sheets
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael D. Sheets .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Francisco J. Pelegri

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Sheets, M.D. (2019). Assaying NanoLuc Luciferase Activity from mRNA-Injected Xenopus Embryos. In: Pelegri, F. (eds) Vertebrate Embryogenesis. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1920. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9009-2_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9009-2_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-9008-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-9009-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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