Regulation
D-luciferin is the substrate for luciferase’s bioluminescence reaction, while L-luciferin is the substrate for luciferyl-CoA synthetase activity. Both reactions are inhibited by the substrate’s enantiomer: L-luciferin and D-luciferin inhibit the bioluminescence pathway and the CoA-ligase pathway, respectively. This shows that luciferase can differentiate between the isomers of the luciferin structure.
L-luciferin is able to emit a weak light even though it is a competitive inhibitor of D-luciferin and the bioluminescence pathway. Light is emitted because the CoA synthesis pathway can be converted to the bioluminescence reaction by hydrolyzing the final product via an esterase back to D-luciferin.
Luciferase activity is additionally inhibited by oxyluciferin and allosterically activated by ATP. When ATP binds to the enzyme’s two allosteric sites, luciferase’s affinity to bind ATP in its active site increases.
Read more about this topic: Luciferase
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