I will show you the multi-color luciferin analogues, and in particular the usefulness of near-infrared(NIR) luciferin analogues.Firefly bioluminescent reaction requires luciferin, luciferase, Mg2+, ATP and O2, and emits light at 560 nm (green-yellow light). As the light emission efficiency of the firefly bioluminescence system is extremely high(ΦBL=41%), this system is attracting widespread attention as a bioimaging tool.We have studied the relationship between structure modification and the firefly luminescence wavelength, where the luciferase of Photinus pyralis (Ppy) was used. As a result, we are able to control the wavelength of the luciferin analogues to some extent. An analog having the thiazoline ring connected directly to p-(dimethylamino)phenyl group exhibited blue shifted luminescence maximum. Furthermore, replacement of the dimethylamino group into a hydroxyl group caused blue shift of luminescence wavelength. On the other hand, Introduction of a double bond between the thiazoline ring and the benzene ring caused large red shift of luminescence wavelength.Based on these structure-activity relationships, we have synthesized a number of luciferin analogs. The shortest emission wavelength of luciferin analogs is 430 nm, and the longest is 760 nm by using Ppy luciferase. Among them, near-infrared(NIR) light is expected to be applied to in vivo imaging because of its high living body permeability.Therefore, Thus, AkaLumine, a luciferin analogue that produces light at 675 nm wavelength, was developed. This compound was shown to yield useful results when applied to the in vivo imaging of mice. We have improved the characteristics of AkaLumine to optimize this compound for use in in vivo imaging, thus obtaining the compounds dubbed TokeOni and seMpai. In this way, bioluminescence imaging technology is undergoing constant innovation, and we continue to develop NIR luciferin analogues that can be used as imaging tools.In this conference, I will present the characteristics of recently developed multi-color luciferin analogues, include NIR luciferin analogues. Figure 1
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