To obtain an antibody-firefly luciferase fusion protein useful as a reagent for medical treatment and diagnosis, causing no deterioration in activities of the antibody and the enzyme, when prepared, by connecting the antibody moiety of a peptide having an antibody activity to the enzyme moiety comprising firefly luciferase.
This novel antibody-firefly luciferase fused protein is prepared by linking the antibody moiety of a peptide having an antibody activity to the enzyme moiety of firefly luciferase. This protein causes no deterioration in its antibody and enzyme activities, when it is prepared, and is useful for medical treatment and for diagnosis, for example, for enzyme immunoassay, DNA detection and the like. The fused protein is prepared by linking (A) a gene coding the antibody region formed by binding the gene coding a variable region of the H-chain (VH) to the gene coding a variable region of the L-chain (VL) in immunoglobulin via a linker peptide gene to (B) a gene of firefly luciferase and incorporating the linked gene into a vector, and transforming a microorganism in Escherichia by transducing the vector and expressing the linked gene.
TATSUMI HIROKI
KOYAMA TAIJI
