Red-Shifted Coumarin Luciferins for Improved Bioluminescence Imaging
Anna Love, Donald R. Caldwell, Bethany Kolbaba‐Kartchner, Katherine M. Townsend, Lila P. Halbers, Zi Yao, Caroline K. Brennan, Joseph Ivanic, Tanya Hadjian, Jeremy H. Mills, Martin J. Schnermann, Jennifer A. Prescher
Abstract
Multicomponent bioluminescence imaging in vivo requires an expanded collection of tissue-penetrant probes. Toward this end, we generated a new class of near-infrared (NIR) emitting coumarin luciferin analogues (CouLuc-3s). The scaffolds were easily accessed from commercially available dyes. Complementary mutant luciferases for the CouLuc-3 analogues were also identified. The brightest probes enabled sensitive imaging in vivo . The CouLuc-3 scaffolds are also orthogonal to popular bioluminescent reporters and can be used for multicomponent imaging applications. Collectively, this work showcases a new set of bioluminescent tools that can be readily implemented for multiplexed imaging in a variety of biological settings.