Ratiometric detection of luciferase assays using calibrated luciferases

Abstract

The present invention relates to a ratiometric bioluminescent assay for the quantification of a desired analyte, comprising a detector luciferase responsive to a substrate that emits light at a first wavelength and to the desired analyte, and a calibrator luciferase responsive to the same substrate that emits light at a second wavelength, the second wavelength being different from the first wavelength emitted by the detector luciferase. The present invention further relates to a method for quantifying a desired analyte in a sample using the bioluminescent assay of the present invention, wherein the quantification of the desired analyte is based on a calibrated ratio of the measured bioluminescence intensities of the detector luciferase and the calibrator luciferase. Furthermore, the present invention relates to the use of the bioluminescent assay of the present invention in a method for quantifying a desired analyte in a sample.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a bioluminescent assay for ratiometric quantification of a desired analyte comprising a detector luciferase responsive to the desired analyte. The present invention further relates to a method of quantifying a desired analyte in a sample using the bioluminescent assay of the present invention, and to the use of the bioluminescent assay of the present invention in a method of quantifying a desired analyte in a sample. [Background technology]

[0002] The detection of biomarkers, such as protein biomarkers, provides useful tools for disease diagnosis and treatment monitoring. Classical immunoassays, such as ELISA, rely on laborious procedures involving numerous washing and incubation steps. Alternative methods affording one-step homogenous immunoassays are attractive and desirable for point-of-care testing that can be performed outside a laboratory environment by unskilled users.

[0003] Split protein complementation is widely useful for investigating protein-protein interactions and is an interesting alternative to develop sandwich immunoassays by placing a reporter fragment on a pair of antibodies that each bind to an antigen target. In such a method, antigen binding brings the fragments into close proximity and reconstitutes an active reporter, which quantitatively indicates the presence of the antigen. Split reporter enzymes, especially split luciferases, are useful luminescent reporters that benefit from their large sensitivity. A particularly useful split luciferase is split NanoLuc, a very stable and bright blue light-producing luciferase that can be split into two fragments (called binary technology (also called "BiT")), 18 kDa Large BiT (LB) and 1.3 kDa Small BiT (SB), designed as a binary complementation reporter to investigate protein interactions.

[0004] Such split reporter enzymes, especially split luciferases, have become important reporter systems to investigate protein-protein interactions and high-throughput drug screening. More generally, bioluminescence detection using luciferases is increasingly used in in vivo imaging and point-of-care diagnostics. A distinct fluorescent detector, bioluminescence does not require external excitation and is highly suitable for sensitive detection in complex media. The difficulty with bioluminescence detection is that the signal strength is determined by many factors, including the concentrations of both luciferase and substrate, the product, as well as the environmental conditions (including temperature, pH, and ionic strength). Since the substrate is turned over over time, the signal is time-dependent, thereby making quantitative measurement difficult.

[0005] Quantitative measurements based on bioluminescence activity require the measurement of a calibration curve under conditions close to those of the assay, including the amount of active enzyme, buffer conditions, substrate concentration, temperature and incubation time. However, in many applications, these parameters are not precisely known or cannot be easily controlled. In particular, the time dependence of the luminescence signal is difficult to control, especially at high luciferase activity. One solution is therefore to select assay conditions that keep luciferase activity low, either by lowering the enzyme concentration or by using a caged substrate that slowly releases the active substrate over time. However, this is far from an ideal solution, as the former limits the range of luciferase concentration and signal intensity, while the latter relies on yet another time-dependent process. For this reason, bioluminescence assays have so far been semi-quantitative, which is suitable for screening-based approaches but difficult for precise analytical applications. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present invention provides a method that allows for the internal calibration of (split) luciferase-based bioluminescence assays, allowing these assays to be used for quantitative measurements. The present invention provides a solution by calibrating the bioluminescence intensity of a first luciferase (also referred to herein as the "reporter luciferase" or "detector luciferase") to a second luciferase (also referred to herein as the "calibrator luciferase") that is added to the same sample and uses the same luciferase domain and substrate, but emits light at a different wavelength.

[0007] The idea is to include in the assay a variant of the luciferase used in the assay that is functionalized with a fluorescent acceptor, i.e. a calibrated luciferase. This calibrated luciferase contains the same luciferase domain used in the assay, but whose energy is transferred to the fluorescent acceptor and emits at a different wavelength than the detector luciferase used in the assay. Since the calibrated luciferase does not react to the target analyte, its activity (determined by measuring the emission at the wavelength of the fluorescent acceptor) can be used to normalize the emission of the detector luciferase. The present invention provides a general solution to make bioluminescence assays and imaging more quantitative, using ratiometric detection of the detector luciferase emission at one wavelength versus the calibrated luciferase emission detected at a different wavelength. The premise behind this approach is that differences in substrate concentration, product inhibition, matrix composition and temperature affect the detector luciferase and the calibrated luciferase to the same extent.

[0008] (explanation) The present invention provides a bioluminescent assay for ratiometric quantification of a desired analyte. To provide independent quantification of the time and concentration of the desired analyte, the bioluminescent assay of the present invention includes a detector luciferase that emits light at a first wavelength in response to a substrate, the detector luciferase being responsive to the desired analyte and a calibrator luciferase. The calibrator luciferase of the present invention emits light at a second wavelength in response to the same substrate, the second wavelength being different from the first wavelength emitted by the detector luciferase. In a variation of the present invention, the calibrator luciferase is a variant of the detector luciferase and contains the same luciferase domain as the detector luciferase.

[0009] By providing a bioluminescence assay comprising a detector luciferase that responds to a desired analyte and a calibrator luciferase that responds to the same substrate as the detector luciferase, the calibrator luciferase can catalyze the oxidation of the same substrate catalyzed by the detector luciferase. For example, if the detector luciferase is NanoLuc luciferase that catalyzes the oxidation of the substrate furimazine (producing blue light), the corresponding luciferase domain of the calibrator luciferase, for example, NanoLuC-mNeonGreen fusion protein, catalyzes the oxidation of the same substrate furimazine (producing green light). By using a detector luciferase and a calibrator luciferase that have the same luciferase domain, for example, deviations in substrate concentration are automatically corrected by calibrating the ratio between the measured bioluminescence intensity of the detector luciferase and the measured bioluminescence intensity of the calibrator luciferase. By using a detector luciferase according to the invention, the emission ratio between the measured bioluminescence intensity of the detector luciferase and the measured bioluminescence intensity of the calibrator luciferase remains stable over time and can therefore be reliably detected as long as sufficient light is emitted by both the detector luciferase and the calibrator luciferase.

[0010] In order to emit light at a wavelength different from that of the detector luciferase, the calibrated luciferase may be functionalized with a fluorescent acceptor, allowing energy transfer from the luciferase domain of the calibrated luciferase to the fluorescent acceptor. Such a fluorescent acceptor may be selected from the group consisting of mNeonGreen protein, fluorescent proteins, Cy3, fluorescent dyes, fluorescent quantum dots, fluorescent nanoparticles, or carbon dots. For example, when a NanoLuc luciferase detector and a calibrated luciferase are selected, the preferred fluorescent acceptor is mNeonGreen protein to provide a blue / green shifted calibrated luciferase. Alternatively, the preferred fluorescent acceptor is Cy3 to provide a blue / red shifted NanoLuc calibrated luciferase.

[0011] To avoid interference with the detector activity of the detector luciferase, the calibrator luciferase does not react with the desired analyte. Preferably, to provide an optimal system, the calibrator luciferase reacts to the same components in the sample to be analyzed as the detector luciferase reacts with the desired analyte, except for the responsivity. By providing such a calibrator luciferase, any reaction by the detector luciferase to other analytes or components in the sample is automatically corrected by calibrating the ratio between the measured bioluminescence intensity of the detector luciferase and the measured bioluminescence intensity of the calibrator luciferase.

[0012] The use of the NanoLuc luciferase domain is preferred due to its bright blue light-emitting properties, but other luciferase domains may be suitable as well. For example, the luciferase domains of the detector luciferase and the calibrator luciferase may be selected from the group consisting of the luciferase domains of NanoLuc luciferase, firefly luciferase, Renilla luciferase, Gaussia luciferase, TurboLuc luciferase and Aluc luciferase.

[0013] The desired analyte of the sample to be analyzed may be any desired analyte and may be related to diagnostics or therapeutic monitoring. However, other applications may be possible, such as detection of food toxins, water quality, and the like. The desired preferred analyte may be selected from the group consisting of antigens, antibodies, and ligands.

[0014] Any type of bioluminescence assay can be used to provide the time-independent and concentration-independent quantification assay of the present invention.As long as the calibrator luciferase with the same luciferase domain of the detector luciferase is selected, it can reliably perform the detection and quantification of the desired analyte of the sample to be analyzed.For example, the bioluminescence assay can be a bioluminescence sandwich immunoassay, or other types of immunoassays (such as competitive immunoassays), a sensor protein based on the allosteric regulation of luciferase activity or the reversible control of luciferase inhibition, a transcriptional regulation assay, an assay screening of protein-protein interaction, a DNA or RNA detection assay.

[0015] In an aspect of the invention, the invention relates to the use of a bioluminescence assay according to the invention in a method for quantifying a desired analyte in a sample.

[0016] In a further aspect the invention relates to the use of a calibrated luciferase of a bioluminescence assay according to the invention in a method for quantifying a desired analyte in a sample. In another aspect, the invention relates to a method for quantifying a desired analyte in a sample, the method comprising: a) providing a sample containing a desired analyte; b) providing a bioluminescence assay according to the invention; c) measuring the bioluminescence intensity of the detector luciferase and the bioluminescence intensity of the calibrator luciferase for the sample provided in step a); d) calibrating the ratio of the measured bioluminescence intensity of the detector luciferase to the bioluminescence intensity of the calibrator luciferase; and e) quantifying the desired analyte based on the ratio calibrated in step d).

[0017] As already explained above, it has been found that the above-described method provides a robust, reliable, time-independent and concentration-independent method of quantifying a desired analyte in a provided sample.

[0018] The present invention further provides a method for quantifying a desired analyte in a sample, the method comprising: i) providing a sample containing a desired analyte; ii) providing a detector luciferase responsive to a desired analyte that emits light at a first wavelength in response to a substrate, and a calibrator luciferase responsive to the same substrate that emits light at a second wavelength, the second wavelength being different from the first wavelength emitted by the detector luciferase; iii) measuring the bioluminescence intensity of the detector luciferase and the bioluminescence intensity of the calibrator luciferase for the sample provided in step i); iv) calibrating the ratio between the measured bioluminescence intensity of the detector luciferase and the bioluminescence intensity of the calibrator luciferase; and v) quantifying the desired analyte based on the ratio calibrated in step iv).

[0019] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the calibrator luciferase used in the methods of the invention is a variant of the detector luciferase and contains the same luciferase domain as the detector luciferase. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1]Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of a homogeneous bioluminescent sandwich immunoassay. In the presence of antigen, the antibody-conjugated sensor protein binds to the antigen and drives the reconstitution of active NanoLuc. Figure 1B shows the split-luciferase-based detection of TNFα-binding antibodies. The SB fragment of NanoLuc is fused to recombinantly expressed TNFα via a semi-flexible linker, while the LB fragment is fused to a photocrosslinkable G protein, allowing binding to a detection antibody that specifically binds to the adalimumab-TNFα complex. [Diagram 2] FIG. 13 shows SDS-PAGE analysis of TNFα-SB purification and photocrosslinking of antibody-pG-LB. [Figure 3A] Figure 3: Intensimetric immunoassay for adalimumab. Proof of principle using 2.5 nM anti-AT-LB and 25 nM TNFα-SB (Figure 3A). Blue line indicates assay with all components, other colors indicate controls. All assays were performed in PBS-BSA buffer with 500-fold diluted furimazine. Error bars represent mean ± SD (n=3). [Figure 3B] Figure 3B shows the intensimetric immunoassay for adalimumab. (Figure 3B) Adalimumab reaction curves using different concentrations of anti-AT-LB and TNFα-SB. All assays were performed in PBS-BSA buffer with 500-fold dilution of furimazine. Error bars represent the mean ± SD (n=3). [Figure 4] Figure 1 shows an intensimetric immunoassay for adalimumab in plasma diluted 1:3 with 10 nM anti-AT-LB and 100 nM TNFα-SB. The blue line indicates the assay with all components, the other colors indicate the controls. All assays were performed in PBS-BSA buffer mixed with plasma in a ratio of 1:3 with furimazine diluted 500 times. Error bars represent the mean ± SD (n=3). [Figure 5A]Figure 5 shows a ratiometric immunoassay for adalimumab in plasma diluted 1:5 with 10 nM anti-AT-LB, 100 nM TNFα-SB and 100 pM NanoLuC-mNeonGreen. Emission spectra at different ADL concentrations are shown (Figure 5A). The blue line indicates the assay with all components, the other colors indicate the controls. All assays were performed in PBS-BSA buffer mixed with plasma in a ratio of 1:5 with 500-fold diluted furimazine. Error bars represent the mean ± SD (n=3). [Figure 5B] Figure 5B shows a ratiometric immunoassay for adalimumab in plasma diluted 1:5 with 10 nM anti-AT-LB, 100 nM TNFα-SB and 100 pM NanoLuC-mNeonGreen. The emission ratio is plotted as a function of ADL concentration (Figure 5B). The blue line indicates the assay with all components, the other colors indicate the controls. All assays were performed in PBS-BSA buffer mixed with plasma in a ratio of 1:5 with 500-fold diluted furimazine. Error bars represent the mean ± SD (n=3). [Figure 6] Figure 1 shows a ratiometric assay monitoring the kinetics of complex formation at various ADL concentrations. All assays were performed with 10 nM anti-AT-LB, 100 nM TNFα-SB and 100 pM NanoLuC-mNeonGreen in PBS-BSA buffer mixed with plasma at a 1:5 ratio using 500-fold diluted furimazine. [Figure 7] DNA and amino acid sequences of pG-LB: Strep-tag (grey), G protein (red), amber stop codon (yellow), LB (cyan), His-tag (dark red). [Figure 8] Figure 1 shows the DNA and amino acid sequences of His-SUMO-TNFα-SB: His-tag (dark red), SUMO-tag (yellow), TNFα (pink), SB (cyan), Strep-tag (grey). [Figure 9]FIG. 1 shows the DNA and amino acid sequences of pG-SB: Strep-tag (grey), G protein (red), amber stop codon (yellow), SB (blue), His-tag (dark red). [Figure 10] FIG. 1 shows the DNA and amino acid sequences of SB in pG-SB variants. [Figure 11] Photoconjugation of sensor proteins. G protein-mediated site-specific binding by UV illumination is shown (FIG. 11A). The G protein contains the unnatural amino acid BPA (red) and is fused to split NanoLuc (LB or SB) via a semi-flexible linker. Upon binding to the Fc domain of an antibody and activation by UV light, the G protein fusion protein covalently binds to the antibody. One or two G protein adaptors can be photocrosslinked to the Fc domain. SDS-PAGE analysis of purified photoconjugated products is shown (FIG. 11B). Lane 1, anti-cTnI19C7 or 4C2; lane 2, photoconjugated product; lane 3, purified photoconjugated protein. [Figure 12] Figure 1 shows SDS-PAGE analysis of photocoupled products using different molar ratios of pGLB / SB to antibody: Lane 1, antibody; lane 2, photocoupled products using an equal molar ratio of antibody to pGLB / SB; lane 3, photocoupled products using a 1:2 molar ratio of antibody:pGLB / SB. [Figure 13] Intensimetric immunoassay of cTnI. Figure 13A shows the dose-dependence of cTnI using 1 nM 19C7-LB and 4C2-SB. The insert is a photograph of the sample. Figure 13B shows the detection limit. Figure 13C shows the dose-dependence of cTnI using different sensor concentrations. (Closed squares) 0.1 nM 19C7-LB and 0.1 nM 4C2-SB; (Closed triangles) 0.1 nM 19C7-LB and 1 nM 4C2-SB; (Closed circles) 1 nM 19C7-LB and 1 nM 4C2-SB; (Closed diamonds) 1 nM 19C7-LB and 10 nM 4C2-SB. Figure 13D shows the time course of the luminescence signal in the presence of different concentrations of cTnI. Error bars represent the mean ± SD (n=3). [Figure 14] Figure 14A is a schematic diagram of a ratiometric assay using NanoLuC-mNeonGreen fusion protein as a calibrator luciferase. Figure 14B shows the cTnI dose-dependence using 1 nM 19C7-LB and 4C2-SB spiked with 5 pM NanoLuC-mNeonGreen fusion protein. Insert is a photograph of the samples. Figure 14C shows the time course of emission ratio in the presence of different concentrations of cTnI. [Figure 15] Figure 15 shows a bioluminescence immunoassay of CRP. Figure 15A shows the CRP dose-dependence using 1 nM C6-LB and 10 nM C135-SB. Figure 15B shows the time course of the luminescence signal in the presence of different concentrations of CRP. Figure 15C shows the CRP dose-dependence using 1 nM C6-LB and 10 nM C135-SB spiked with 2 pM NanoLuC-mNeonGreen fusion protein in buffer. Figure 15D shows the time course of the luminescence ratio in the presence of different concentrations of CRP. [Figure 16] Figure 1 shows the correlation between CRP concentrations measured by ELISA and our assay. Samples were prepared in plasma diluted 1 / 50 in buffer and quantified using a calibration curve obtained with buffer. Error bars represent the mean ± SD (n=4). [Figure 17] Figure 17 shows bioluminescent immunoassay of anti-cetuximab. Figure 17A shows an intensimetric assay using 1 nM cetuximab-LB and cetuximab-SB. Figure 17B shows the kinetics of the intensimetric assay with different concentrations of anti-cetuximab. Figure 17C shows a ratiometric assay using 1 nM cetuximab-LB and cetuximab-SB spiked with 1 pM NanoLuC-mNeonGreen fusion protein. Figure 17D shows the kinetics of the ratiometric assay with different concentrations of anti-cetuximab. [Figure 18]Figure 18 shows the emission of different concentrations of red-shifted NanoLuc. Figure 18A: Photograph taken with a digital camera. Figure 18B: Emission spectrum measured by a plate reader. [Figure 19] Figure 19 shows a ratiometric assay of cardiac troponin I using 1 nM 19C7-LB and 4C2-SB spiked with 1 nM red-shifted NanoLuc. Figure 19A shows a photograph of the samples taken with a digital camera. Figure 19B shows the normalized blue / red ratio measured by a plate reader. [Figure 20] DNA and amino acid sequences of the K9C / D157C / G191C variant: Strep-tag (grey), NanoLuc (cyan), Cysteine ​​(red), His-tag (dark red). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] In one embodiment of the present invention, the invention relates to a bioluminescent sandwich immunoassay that can be performed directly in solution without any washing or incubation steps. In such an assay, two antibodies that recognize different epitopes in the desired analyte are bound to the larger or smaller part of the split NanoLuc luciferase by photocrosslinking through a flexible peptide linker of the G protein domain fused to the split NanoLuc part. In the presence of the desired analyte, a ternary complex is formed from the analyte and the two antibodies, allowing the complementation of the two split luciferase parts and reconstitution of luciferase activity. The system itself generates an intensimetric signal, which is the intensity of blue light emitted by the reconstituted luciferase, a measure of the amount of analyte. However, the intensity of the blue emission is not constant and decreases over time, especially at high analyte concentrations. The problem was solved by spiking in a low concentration of NanoLuC-mNeonGreen fusion protein that does not emit blue light (460 nm) but does emit green light (515 nm). We found that the ratio of green and blue light is stable in time, allowing the emission ratio to be used as a reliable measure of analyte concentration. Ratiometric detection combined with split NanoLuc complementation provides a very attractive and fast alternative to currently used heterogeneous sandwich immunoassays. The method can be used for the detection of cardiac troponin I (a marker of heart attack), C-reactive protein and anti-cetuximab antibodies, although other applications of the method may be suitable as well, including the detection of other antibodies and protein biomarkers.

[0022] Another interesting application of split reporter luciferases is the high-throughput detection of protein-protein interactions. In general, the method provides a simple and yet robust way to calibrate any bioluminescence assay.

[0023] The embodiments of the present invention may be applied as a sensor strategy to develop assays and point-of-care diagnostics for several other interesting biomarkers, combining assays with paper or thread-based diagnostic devices where ratiometric detection is important. The method itself can be further modified by looking for calibrator variants with a more red-shifted luminescence signal (better separation from the signal of the detector luciferase). Also, since it provides a general principle to calibrate intensimetric bioluminescence signals, the present invention may be applied more broadly beyond in vitro assays (with luciferase). Possible applications include use in cell-based high-throughput screening, transcriptional reporter assays, (in vivo) bioluminescence imaging applications and novel methods to develop ratiometric bioluminescence sensor proteins.

[0024] Although the examples provided herein include split luciferases, the detector luciferase can be any luciferase whose activity or concentration is modulated by the presence of the analyte. That said, the invention is also applicable to some non-split luciferases.

[0025] The present invention relates to an alternative ratiometric bioluminescent sandwich immunoassay format based on split reporter luciferase complementation, in which two fragments of luciferase are bound to a pair of antibodies each recognizing a different epitope on a target molecule, allowing for a homogeneous sandwich immunoassay in solution (see also Ni, Y. and M. Merkx, Ratiometric detection of luciferase assays using a calibrator luciferase. provisional patent application 62 / 864583, manuscript in preparation, 2020). A G protein-mediated photoconjugation strategy (see also Hui, JZ, et al., LASIC: Light Activated Site-Specific Conjugation of Native IgGs. Bioconjugate Chem. 2015, 26, 8, p. 1456-1460) was introduced to enable site-specific covalent bond formation between native antibodies and split NanoLuc fragments (see also Dixon, AS, et al., NanoLuc Complementation Reporter Optimized for Accurate Measurement of Protein Interactions in Cells. ACS Chemical Biology, 2016.11(2): p. 400-408), providing a general and straightforward method applicable to a wide range of commercially available monoclonal antibodies (Figure 1A). The system is also made ratiometric by introducing NanoLuc-mNeonGreen (Suzuki, K., et al., Five colour variants of bright luminescent protein for real-time multicolour bioimaging. Nature Communications, 2016.7: see also p.1-10) as a calibrator luciferase to enable time- and concentration-independent measurements.While this system can also be used for antibody detection, in that case, the assay showed a relatively small increase in luciferase complementation and a bell-shaped antibody response curve (also known as the hook effect). These properties are inherent to solution sandwich immunoassays that target two antigen-binding sites within the same detection antibody and limit the analytical performance of the assay (see also Ni, Y. and M. Merkx, Ratiometric detection of luciferase assays using a calibrator luciferase. Provisional Patent Application 62 / 864583, manuscript in preparation, 2020). An alternative assay format successfully addresses these shortcomings. The key to this new assay format is that one part of the split luciferase is genetically fused to the target antigen, while the complement part is fused to an antibody or a monoclonal antibody that specifically recognizes the antibody-antigen complex. Proof of principle of this assay format is provided by developing a ratiometric bioluminescence assay for the detection of adalimumab.

[0026] In a further embodiment, the present invention relates to a ratiometric bioluminescent immunoassay for TNFα binding antibodies. Antibodies that bind to TNFα, an inflammatory cytokine that is overexpressed in inflammatory diseases, are an important example of therapeutic antibodies. TNFα actually forms homotrimers in solution, and therapeutic antibodies such as adalimumab bind to TNFα by recognizing a complex discontinuous epitope formed by the interface of two monomers. Therapeutic antibodies targeting TNFα, such as infliximab and adalimumab, have been very successful in treating diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, and are some of the best-selling drugs. EXAMPLES

[0027] Example 1. Bioluminescent sandwich immunoassays for the detection of cardiac troponin I, C-reactive protein and anti-cetuximab antibodies Cloning The pET28a(+) vector containing DNA encoding the G-SB protein (pG-SB) and the pET28a(+) vector containing DNA encoding the G-LB protein (pG-LB) were ordered from GenScript. Site-directed mutagenesis to change the SB sequence was performed using the QuikChange Lightning site-directed mutagenesis kit (Agilent technologies) using specific primers. All cloning and mutagenesis results were confirmed by Sanger sequencing (StarSeq). Figures 7, 9 and 10 show the DNA and corresponding amino acid sequences of pG-SB (variant) and pG-LB.

[0028] Protein expression To incorporate p-benzoylphenylalanine (pBPA), pET28a plasmids encoding pG-LB or pG-SB were cotransformed into E. coli BL21(DE3) with the pEVOL vector encoding a tRNA / tRNA synthetase pair. The pEVOL vector was a kind gift from Peter Schultz (Addgene plasmid#31186). Cells were grown in 2YT medium (16 g peptone, 5 g NaCl, 10 g enzyme extract / L) containing 30 μg / ml kanamycin and 25 μg / ml chloramphenicol. Protein expression was induced with 0.1 mM IPTG and 0.2% arabinose in the presence of 1 mM pBPA (Bachem, F-2800.0001). After overnight expression, cells were harvested and lysed using Bugbuster reagent (Novagen). Proteins were purified using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography followed by Strep-Tactin purification according to the manufacturer's instructions. Protein purity was confirmed by SDS-PAGE. Correct incorporation of pBPA was confirmed by Q-ToF LC-MS. Purified proteins were stored at -80 °C until use.

[0029] NanoLuC-mNeonGreen fusion protein was prepared as previously described (Suzuki, K., et al., Five colour variants of bright luminescent protein for real-time multicolour bioimaging. Nature Communications, 2016.7:p.1-10). Proteins were purified using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography and Strep-Tactin purification. Purified proteins were stored at -80°C until use.

[0030] optical coupling Cardiac troponin I antibodies 19C7 (4T21) and 4C2 (4T21), and C-reactive protein antibodies C6 (4C28cc) and C135 (4C28) were ordered from HyTest. The therapeutic antibody cetuximab was obtained by Catherina hospital pharmacy (Eindhoven, The Netherlands). Photobinding reactions were performed using a Promed UVL-30 UV light source (4 × 9 W). Samples containing antibodies and pG-LB or pG-SB in PBS buffer (pH 7.4) were irradiated with 365 nm light for 30–180 min. Samples were kept on ice during photobinding. The photobound products were further purified using Ni-NTA spin columns, followed by purification by PDG10 desalting columns or protein G spin columns.

[0031] Luminescence assay Cardiac troponin I (8T53) and C-reactive protein (8C72) were ordered from HyTest. Anti-cetuximab (HCA221) was ordered from Bio-Rad. Intensimetric assays were performed at sensor protein concentrations of 0.1–10 nM in a total volume of 15 μL in PerkinElmer flat white 384-well Optiplates. After 0.5 h of incubation of sensor protein and analyte, NanoGlo substrate (Promega, N1110) was added at a final dilution of 300–1000. Luminescence intensity was recorded on a Tecan Spark 10M plate reader with an integration time of 100 ms. For ratiometric assays, 1–10 pM NanoLuC-mNeonGreen fusion protein was added to the samples and emission spectra were recorded from 398 nm to 653 nm, with a step size of 15 nm, a bandwidth of 25 nm, and an integration time of 1000 ms.

[0032] Luminescence signals were also recorded using a digital camera. Plates were placed in a styrofoam box to exclude ambient light. Pictures were taken through the hole in the box using a SONY DSC-RX100 digital camera with an exposure time of 30 s, F-stop of 1.8, and ISO values ​​of 1600-3200. Images were analyzed using ImageJ to calculate the absolute intensity and the ratio values ​​between the average intensity of the blue and green channels.

[0033] Example 1a. Sensor design and characterization (Cardiac Troponin I) To establish the proof of concept, we selected cardiac troponin I (cTnI) as the target antigen, which is an important marker of cardiac damage and requires sensitive detection at pM concentrations. The LB fragment and the SB fragment of split NanoLuc with Kd 2.5 μM were fused to the G protein via a semi-flexible linker, respectively. They contained a His-tag at the N-terminus and a strep-tag at the C-terminus to facilitate purification of the fusion protein. The plasmid contained a TAG amber stop codon at position 24 of the G protein, allowing the incorporation of the photoreactive group, the unnatural amino acid p-benzoyl-phenylalanine (BPA), at the desired position by co-expression with an orthogonal tRNA synthetase / tRNA pair (see also Hui, JZ, et al., LASIC: Light Activated Site-Specific Conjugation of Native IgGs. Bioconjugate Chem. 2015, 26, 8, p. 1456-1460). The BPA-incorporated G protein domain can be crosslinked to the Fc domain of an antibody by irradiation at 365 nm. The purified pG-LB and pG-SB proteins were photocoupled to a pair of anti-cTnI antibodies, 19C7 and 4C2, which are compatible in a sandwich immunoassay (Figure 11A). One feature of G protein-based coupling is that both IgG heavy chains can be modified, thus resulting in mono-, di- and non-conjugated antibodies as well as mixtures of pG-LB / SB. Various molar ratios of adapter protein to antibody were used to affect coupling efficiency (Figure 12). Since the presence of pG-LB and pG-SB contributes to background signal, an equal molar ratio of protein to antibody was used to minimize unbound pG-LB and pG-SB in the mixture. A Ni affinity chromatography step was used to remove unbound antibody (Figure 11B).

[0034] When 1 nM of purified antibody-bound sensor protein was incubated with cTnI from pM to nM, the recorded emission intensity followed a bell-shaped cTnI-dependent curve due to the hook effect at very high concentrations of cTnI (Figure 13A). The maximum emission intensity seen with 10 nM cTnI was 300-fold higher compared to the blank. The detection limit was determined to be 5 pM (Figure 13B). The signal response could be modulated by varying the concentration of the sensor protein (Figure 13C). By using higher concentrations of 4C2-SB, the "hook" could be effectively shifted to relatively high analyte concentrations. Maximal intensity was obtained at 50 nM cTnI using 1 nM 19C7-LB and 10 nM 4C2-SB. Although these intensities were too low to be detected by a digital camera, higher S / B ratios at low analyte concentrations were obtained using 0.1 nM 19C7-LB and 1 nM 4C2-SB. Therefore, 1 nM of each sensor protein was employed in further experiments. The effect of split NanoLuc interaction affinity on signal response was further investigated. For this purpose, two other SB variants with Kd of 190 μM and 0.28 μM were tested. The highest signal intensity was obtained using SB with the highest S / B ratio, Kd of 2.5 μM (Figure 14).

[0035] One drawback of using absolute luminescence intensity is that the signal intensity depends on many factors, including substrate concentration, pH, temperature and ionic strength, and usually decreases over time as a result of substrate turnover. Indeed, monitoring absolute luminescence intensity for 30 min revealed that the signal changes in time (Figure 13D). This is particularly problematic for point-of-care applications, where it may be difficult to carefully calibrate the assay for differences in sensor concentration, substrate turnover and environmental conditions. The ratiometric system was further developed by adding an additional calibrated luciferase. The assay mixture was spiked with a bioluminescent NanoLuC-mNeonGreen fusion protein that can catalyze the oxidation of the same substrate furimazine and produce green light (Suzuki, K., et al., Five colour variants of bright luminescent protein for real-time multicolour bioimaging. Nature Communications, 2016.7:p.1-10). In such a way, the emission ratio as a function of antigen concentration negates the effects of substrate concentration and reaction conditions. As shown in Figure 14A, the ratiometric system exhibited a similar antigen dose dependency to that obtained by the intensimetric assay. More interestingly, the emission ratio remained stable over time (Figure 14B), and thus could be reliably detected as long as sufficient light was emitted. The time independence of the ratiometric system represents an important aspect of sensor performance for practical applications.

[0036] Example 1b. Sensor design and characterization (C-reactive protein) The assay format of Example 2 was also applied to the detection of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP). pG-SB and pG-LB proteins were conjugated to a pair of anti-CRP antibodies C135 (mIgG2b) and C6 (mIgG2a). After successful photoconjugation of the antibodies to pG-SB and pG-LB and one-step nickel affinity purification, an intensimetric assay for CRP was performed, yielding a maximum S / B ratio of 56 (Figure 15A). The addition of NL-mNG calibrators made the assay less variable over time without affecting the detection limit and design (Figures 15C and 15D). By adding 2 pM of NL-mNG calibrators, a maximum ratio change of 18 and an LOD of 3 pM were achieved in the ratiometric assay.

[0037] Assay Evaluation The analytical performance of the assay was compared with a commercially available ELISA for the quantification of CRP in human plasma. Low mgL refers to high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP), which is clinically used for cardiovascular risk assessment. -1 Test CRP samples were prepared at levels of 0.01 mg / mL. Due to the high sensitivity of our assay, test plasma samples were diluted 50-fold with buffer and then the measured blue / green ratio was measured by comparing it with the calibration curve obtained in FIG. 15C. In parallel, the CRP concentration in the test samples was determined after appropriate dilution by ELISA. A good correlation (R 2 = 0.9906) was found between ELISA and our assay (Figure 16), pointing to the precision of our assay and its superior potential for analysis of clinical samples. It is worth mentioning that the simple "mix and measure" workflow of our assay eliminates the need for multiple washing steps, hence making the total assay time 1 h less than ELISA.

[0038] Example 1c. Sensor design and characterization (anti-cetuximab) We investigated whether the general sensor format of Example 1 could be extended to anti-antibody monitoring. Administration of therapeutic antibodies for cancer or inflammation treatment can induce an immune response, resulting in the generation of anti-antibodies that inactivate the therapeutic effect of the treatment. Therefore, the development of a simple and fast assay to detect anti-antibodies is important to evaluate immunogenicity to therapeutic antibodies. The anti-cancer therapeutic antibody cetuximab was selected as the detection molecule, which was photoconjugated separately with pG-LB and pG-SB. Split NanoLuc functionalized cetuximab was then used for luminescence detection of anti-cetuximab, resulting in a bell-shaped dose-dependent curve with a maximum S / B ratio of 8 (Figure 17A). Addition of NanoLuC-mNeonGreen fusion protein to the ratiometric system yielded a similar assay curve (Figure 17C), but a more stable sensor signal of the emission ratio over time (Figure 17D).

[0039] conclusion A generic homogenous immunoassay format based on the complementation of split NanoLuc luciferase was developed for the direct detection of protein biomarkers in solution. Proof of concept was obtained by successful detection of cTnI at pM concentrations. The highly modular nature of the sensor format allows the assay of different protein targets by placing the split NanoLuc fragments on target-binding antibodies. Also, by adding a calibrated luciferase, a ratiometric assay system was developed that allows independent measurement of time and substrate concentration.

[0040] Example 2. Ratiometric Bioluminescence Immunoassay for TNFα Binding Antibodies Cloning A vector containing DNA encoding pET28a(+)G protein-Large Bit (pG-LB) and a vector containing DNA encoding pET28a(+)His-SUMO-TNFα-Linker-SB were ordered from GenScript. Figures 7 and 8 show the DNA and corresponding amino acid sequences of pG-LB and SUMO-TNFα-SB, respectively.

[0041] Protein expression and purification To incorporate p-benzoyl-phenylalanine (pBPA), a plasmid encoding pET28apG-LB was co-transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3) with the pEVOL vector encoding the tRNA / tRNA synthetase pair. The pEVOL vector was a kind gift from Peter Schultz (Addgene plasmid#31186). Cells were grown in 2YT medium (16 g peptone, 5 g NaCl, 10 g enzyme extract / L) containing 30 μg / ml kanamycin and 25 μg / ml chloramphenicol. Protein expression was induced with 0.1 mM IPTG and 0.2% arabinose in the presence of 1 mM pBPA (Bachem, F-2800.0001). After overnight expression, cells were harvested and lysed using Bugbuster reagent (Novagen). Proteins were purified using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography followed by Strep-Tactin purification according to the manufacturer's instructions. Protein purity was confirmed by SDS-PAGE. Correct incorporation of pBPA was confirmed by Q-ToF LC-MS. Purified proteins were stored at -80°C until use.

[0042] The plasmid encoding the pET28aSUMO-TNFα-SB fusion protein was transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3). Cells were grown in LB medium (10 g peptone, 10 g NaCl, 5 g enzyme extract / L) containing 30 μg / ml kanamycin. Protein expression was induced with 0.1 mM IPTG. After overnight expression, cells were harvested and resuspended in binding buffer (40 mM Tris-HCl, 125 mM NaCl, 5 mM imidazole, pH 8.0) containing benzonase enzyme. Cells were then disrupted by sonication on ice with 5 pulses of 20 s set at 50% amplitude. Protein was first purified using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography at 4 °C. The His-SUMO-tag was cleaved from TNFα-SB by adding 2 μL of SUMO protease to the 1.5 ml elution fraction and dialyzing the solution overnight at 4° C. against SUMO protease reaction buffer (20 mM Tris-HCl, 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM DTT, pH 8.0) using a 5 kDa dialysis membrane. Cleaved TNFα-SB was obtained using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography to remove the cleaved His-SUMO-tag. Protein purity was confirmed by SDS-PAGE. The purified protein was stored at −80° C. until use.

[0043] NanoLuC-mNeonGreen fusion protein was prepared as previously described (Suzuki, K et al., Five colour variants of bright luminescent protein for real-time multicolour bioimaging. Nature Communications, 2016.7:p.1-10). Proteins were purified using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography and Strep-Tactin purification. Purified proteins were stored at -80°C until use.

[0044] optical coupling Anti-adalimumab / TNFα monoclonal antibody (AT antibody) was obtained from BioRad (HCA207). Photobinding reactions were performed using a Promed UVL-30 UV light source (4x9W). Samples containing antibody and 2 equivalents of pG-LB in PBS buffer (PH 7.4) were irradiated with 365 nm light for 2 hours. Samples were kept on ice during photobinding. The photobinding product contained a mixture of unbound pG-LB and AT antibody bound to one or two copies of pG-LB protein and was used without further purification.

[0045] Luminescence assay Adalimumab was ordered from Gentaur (A1048-100). Intensimetric assays were performed at HCA207-pG-LB concentrations of 2.5–30 nM and TNFα-SB concentrations of 25–300 nM in a total volume of 15 μL in Greiner flat white 384-well plates. After 0.5 h incubation of sensor proteins and analytes, NanoGlo substrate (Promega, N1110) was added at a final dilution of 500x. Luminescence intensity was recorded on a Tecan Spark10M plate reader with an integration time of 100 ms. For ratiometric assays, 10–100 pM NanoLuC-mNeonGreen fusion protein was added to the samples and emission spectra were recorded from 398 nm to 653 nm, with a step size of 15 nm, a bandwidth of 25 nm and an integration time of 100 ms. Experiments were performed with plasma diluted in buffer (PBS containing 1 mg / ml BSA, pH 7.4) or in PBS / BSA buffer.

[0046] Sensor design and synthesis of sensor components To establish the proof of concept, adalimumab (ADL) was selected as the target antibody. Adalimumab is currently the most widely used anti-TNFα antibody and represents a family of TNFα inhibitor biopharmaceuticals that are widely used to treat inflammatory diseases, including infliximab and its biosimilars, as well as non-antibody receptor domain containing hybrid proteins. The sensor according to this example has two components; (1) a TNFα fusion protein in which the C-terminus of TNFα is linked to SB via a flexible linker, and 2) a monoclonal antibody that binds to the ADL-TNFα complex functionalized with LB fragments using a previously reported photocrosslinkable protein-linker-LB fusion protein. The high affinity of ADL for the native TNFα trimer (Kd=0.11 nM) ensures that all ADL forms a complex with TNFα when excess TNFα is used in the assay. The anti-ADL-TNFα antibody used here was reported to bind the complex with a Kd of 67 nM (https: / / www.bio-rad-antibodies.com / antiadalimumab-antibody-humira.html), allowing the assay to be responsive in the concentration range that is interesting for therapeutic drug monitoring (0.1–22 mg / L or 1–200 nM).

[0047] The DNA sequence of TNFα was obtained from Hoffmann et al. (Recombinant production of bioactive human TNF-α by SUMO-fusion system-High yields from shake-flask culture.Protein Expression and Purification,5 2010.72(2):p.238-243), who used an N-terminal His-SUMO-tag to obtain high yields of properly folded protein. This DNA sequence was cloned into the pET28a vector, where the C-terminus of TNFα was fused via a long flexible glycine-serine linker to the SB variant with moderate affinity for the LB fragment (Kd of 2.5 μM). The binding to the C-terminus of the protein should allow the native trimeric complex to form without steric hindrance of either of the fragments. It was also important to provide sufficient steric freedom between both fragments to allow luciferase complementation to occur. The His-SUMO-TNFα-SB fusion protein was recombinantly expressed in E. coli and purified in good yield using nickel-affinity chromatography (see Figure 2). After overnight incubation of His-SUMO-TNFα-SB with SUMO protease, the His-SUMO tag was removed by separating TNFα-SB from His-SUMO and uncleaved HIS-SUMO-TNFα-SB protein in a second nickel affinity chromatography step. The flow through this column contained essentially pure TNFα-SB fusion of the expected molecular weight (28 kDa). Binding of LB to anti-ADL-TNFα antibody was achieved by photocrosslinking the antibody with 2 equivalents of pG-LB protein for 2 h on ice at 365 nm. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that the majority of the antibody successfully bound one or two copies of pG-LB protein. The conjugated product was used directly in the bioluminescence assay without further purification.

[0048] Proof of principle and effectiveness of sensor concentration To test the feasibility of the new sensor principle, an adalimumab titration experiment in buffer was performed with 2.5 nM anti-AT-LB and 25 nM TNFα-SB. A large, 80-fold increase in emission intensity was seen at ADLs from 0.01 to 10 nM, after which the intensity remained constant. This striking increase in emission demonstrates that the assay principle worked and that TNFα-SB proteins correctly folded and self-assembled into their native trimeric structure. Next, the concentrations of anti-AT-LB and TNFα-SB were systematically varied to find optimal assay conditions in terms of signal increase and increased ADL sensitivity. Figure 3A,B show that increasing anti-AT-LB concentrations increases both the signal and background luminescence signal without notably affecting the dynamic range. Increasing the concentration of TNFα-SB from 100 to 300 nM did not affect the assay performance.

[0049] Diluted plasma measurement and ratiometric detection Ideally, the assay should be able to measure ADL concentrations between 3 and 70 nM in plasma. As the assay in buffer is most sensitive at ADL between 0.1 and 10 nM, we established a protocol in which plasma samples were diluted with buffer in a 1:3 ratio (corresponding to a 4-fold dilution). Figure 4 shows the results of an ADL titration experiment on diluted plasma, where the concentration of ADL on the X-axis represents the final concentration after dilution. The response curve and dynamic range are very similar to those obtained with pure buffer, indicating that the assay is not affected by the presence of 25% (v / v) plasma.

[0050] Thus, the data presented are largely representative of intensimetric data, which measure the absolute intensity of the blue emission signal as the signal for complex formation. However, the absolute signal intensity not only depends on the amount of ADL, but is also affected by environmental parameters such as pH, temperature and ionic strength. Most importantly, however, the signal depends on the concentration of the furimazine substrate, which means that the signal drops over time, most notably at higher ADL concentrations, as a result of substrate turnover. This is particularly problematic for point-of-care applications, where it can be difficult to carefully calibrate the assay for differences in sensor concentration, substrate turnover and environmental conditions. Recently, a new approach has been reported to convert an intensimetric luciferase assay into a ratiometric assay by adding an additional calibrator luciferase. The assay mixture was spiked with a bioluminescent NanoLuC-mNeonGreen fusion protein that can use the same substrate furimazine and generate green light (Ni, Y. and M. Merkx, Ratiometric detection of luciferase assays using a calibrator luciferase. provisional patent application 62 / 864583, manuscript in preparation, 2020). Thus, the emission ratio as a function of ADL concentration nullifies the effects of substrate concentration and reaction conditions.

[0051] Figures 5A-B show an ADL titration experiment in plasma diluted 1:5 using 100 pM NanoLuC-mNeonGreen as the calibrator luciferase in addition to 10 nM anti-AT-LB and 100 nM TNFα-SB. Figure 5A shows that the blue peak of reconstituted split NanoLuc increases as a function of ADL concentration, while the 513 nm peak from the calibrator luciferase remains constant. The titration curve obtained by plotting the ratio of the blue and green emission peaks as a function of ADL concentration shows a large response in the physiologically relevant concentration range, showing a 15-20 fold overall change in the emission ratio and an LOD of approximately 25 pM (corresponding to 0.15 nM in plasma).

[0052] The ratiometric signal also allows the kinetics of complex formation to be reliably monitored, thus establishing the optimal incubation time. Figure 6 shows the increase in emission ratio following the addition of 0, 0.75, 3 or 15 nM ADL to a mixture containing all sensor components and substrates. As expected, the kinetics of complex formation is concentration dependent, reaching equilibrium in approximately 10 min at higher concentrations. In the absence of ADL the emission ratio is constant.

[0053] conclusion As mentioned above, we developed a generic homogeneous immunoassay format based on the complementation of split NanoLuc luciferase for the direct detection of TNFα-binding antibodies. Proof of concept was provided by successful ratiometric detection of adalimumab in diluted plasma with an LOD of 25 pM and a large dynamic range. In contrast to sandwich immunoassay formats based on two antibodies, the assay format introduced here has a fusion protein with the SB fragment of NanoLuc luciferase, a single detection antibody that binds to the adalimumab-TNFα complex and is bound to the LB fragment of NanoLuc, and the target antigen. This new assay format is particularly attractive for the detection of therapeutic antibodies that bind to large and / or structurally complex discontinuous epitopes. The assay reported here can be easily adapted for the detection of other TNFα-binding antibodies using detection antibodies specific for the target antibody-TNFα-complex. The sensor principle can be further extended to other antibodies, antigen-SB fusion proteins can be generated, and specific detection antibodies are available that specifically bind to the target antibody (but not to the antigen binding site) or to a complex of the target antibody and its antigen.

[0054] Example 3. Development of a red-shifted calibrator luciferase To develop a red-shifted NanoLuc luciferase, we developed fluorophore-labeled NanoLuc constructs with highly efficient bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) from NanoLuc to the fluorophore. The Cy3 fluorophore has an emission maximum at 563 nm and its excitation spectrum has a spectral overlap with NanoLuc emission and was therefore selected for incorporation into NanoLuc luciferase by maleimide-thiol coupling. To achieve this, the native cysteine ​​(Cys175) of NanoLuc was first replaced with serine, followed by site-directed mutagenesis to introduce cysteine ​​residues near the N-terminus, near the C-terminus, or in available loops where protein folding and bioluminescence compatibility would not be disrupted. BRET efficiency was then determined for each mutant after labeling with Cy3, indicating K9C, D157C, and G191C as potential Cy3 binding sites. Then, to further improve the BRET efficiency, double and triple site mutants by combining these mutation positions were constructed to couple multiple Cy3 to one NanoLuc protein. The triple mutant K9C / D157C / G191C was finally obtained with a suitable Cy3 labeling yield of approximately 140% and high BRET efficiency. The K9C / D157C / G191C variant emits orange emission that is captured by a digital camera (Figure 18A), with the emission maximum at 568 nm (Figure 18B).

[0055] Next, we performed a ratiometric assay of cTnI with 19C7-LB and 4C2-SB sensor proteins using Cy3-labeled K9C / D157C / G191C as the calibrator luciferase. This red-shifted calibrator allowed a maximum ratio change of 45, superior to the green calibrator NL-mNG, which gave a maximum ratio change of 25 in the ratiometric assay of cTnI (Figure 19).

Claims

1. 1. A bioluminescent assay kit for ratiometric quantification of a desired analyte comprising a detector luciferase responsive to a substrate and emitting light at a first wavelength, and responsive to a desired analyte, and further comprising a calibrator luciferase, wherein the calibrator luciferase is selected from the group consisting of luciferases having the same luciferase domain as the detector luciferase, and wherein the calibrator luciferase responds to the same substrate and emits light at a second wavelength, the second wavelength being different from the first wavelength emitted by the detector luciferase.

2. 2. The bioluminescence assay kit of claim 1, wherein the calibrated luciferase is functionalized with a fluorescent acceptor to allow energy transfer from the luciferase domain of the calibrated luciferase to the fluorescent acceptor.

3. 3. The bioluminescence assay kit of claim 2, wherein the fluorescent receptor is selected from the group consisting of mNeonGreen protein, a fluorescent protein, Cy3, a fluorescent dye, a fluorescent quantum dot, a fluorescent nanoparticle, or a carbon dot.

4. The bioluminescence assay kit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the calibrator luciferase does not react with the desired test substance.

5. The bioluminescence assay kit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bioluminescence assay kit is selected from the group consisting of a bioluminescence sandwich immunoassay kit, a competitive immunoassay kit, a sensor protein based on allosteric regulation of luciferase activity or reversible control of luciferase inhibition, a transcriptional regulation assay kit, an assay screening kit for protein-protein interactions, and a DNA or RNA detection assay kit.

6. The bioluminescence assay kit of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the luciferase domains of the detector luciferase and the calibrator luciferase are selected from the group consisting of the luciferase domains of NanoLuc luciferase, firefly luciferase, Renilla luciferase, Gaussia luciferase, TurboLuc luciferase and Aluc luciferase.

7. The bioluminescence assay kit according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the desired test substance is selected from the group consisting of an antigen, an antibody, and a ligand.

8. Use of the bioluminescent assay kit according to any one of claims 1 to 7 in a method for quantifying a desired analyte in a sample.

9. 1. A method for quantifying a desired analyte in a sample, comprising: i) providing a sample containing the desired analyte; ii) providing a calibrator luciferase selected from the group consisting of a detector luciferase that emits light at a first wavelength in response to a substrate and is responsive to the desired analyte, and a luciferase having the same luciferase domain as the detector luciferase, the calibrator luciferase that emits light at a second wavelength in response to the same substrate, the second wavelength being different from the first wavelength emitted by the detector luciferase; iii) measuring the bioluminescence intensity of said detector luciferase and the bioluminescence intensity of said calibrator luciferase for the sample provided in step i); iv) calibrating the ratio between the measured bioluminescence intensity of the detector luciferase and the bioluminescence intensity of the calibrator luciferase; and v) quantifying the desired analyte based on the numerical value of the calibrated ratio from step iv).

10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the calibrated luciferase is functionalized with a fluorescent acceptor to allow energy transfer from the luciferase domain of the calibrated luciferase to the fluorescent acceptor.

11. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the fluorescent acceptor is selected from the group consisting of mNeonGreen protein, a fluorescent protein, Cy3, a fluorescent dye, a fluorescent quantum dot, a fluorescent nanoparticle, or a carbon dot.

12. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein said calibrator luciferase does not react with said desired analyte.

13. 13. The method of any of claims 9 to 12, wherein the luciferase domains of the detector luciferase and the calibrator luciferase are selected from the group consisting of the luciferase domains of NanoLuc luciferase, Firefly luciferase, Renilla luciferase, Gaussia luciferase, TurboLuc luciferase and Aluc luciferase.

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