Firefly Luciferase Bioluminescence as a Tool for Searching Magnetic Isotope Effects in ATP-Dependent Enzyme Reactions

Cells and tissues are composed from atoms of chemical elements, some of which have two kinds of stable isotopes, magnetic and nonmagnetic ones. Not long ago, magnetic isotope effects (MIEs) have been discovered in experiments with cells enriched with magnetic or nonmagnetic isotopes of magnesium. These MIEs can stem from higher efficiency of the enzymes of bioenergetics in the cells enriched with magnetic magnesium isotope. In the studies of MIEs in biological systems, it is needed to monitor the ATP concentrations as the major energy source in cells. The most sensitive and rapid method of the ATP measurements is based on the use of the firefly luciferase–luciferin system. Since luciferase is the ATP-dependent enzyme and activated by Mg-ions, it is necessary to elucidate whether this enzyme is sensitive to magnetic field of the magnesium isotope’s nuclear spin. Herein we present the results of studying the effects of different isotopes of magnesium, magnetic ²⁵Mg and nonmagnetic ²⁴Mg and ²⁶Mg, on bioluminescence spectra and enzymatic activity of firefly luciferase. It was shown, that neither kinetics of the bioluminescence signal nor the bioluminescence spectra manifest any statistically significant dependence on the type of magnesium isotope. So, no MIEs have been revealed in the luciferase-catalyzed oxidation of luciferin. It means that firefly luciferase bioluminescence can serve as the tool for search and studies of magnetic isotope effects in ATP-dependent enzyme reactions in biological systems, including the enzymatic synthesis and hydrolysis of ATP.