Use of Luciferase Chimaera to Monitor PLC Expression in Mouse Eggs

The microinjection of cRNA encoding phospholipase Cζ (PLC zeta) causes Ca²⁺ oscillations and the activation of development in mouse eggs. The PLCζ protein that is expressed in eggs after injection of cRNA is effective in causing Ca²⁺ oscillations at very low concentrations. In order to measure the amount and timecourse of protein expression we have tagged PLCζ with firefly luciferase. The expression of the luciferase protein tag in eggs is then measured by incubation in luciferin combined with luminescence imaging, or by the lysis of eggs in the presence of Mg-ATP and luciferin in a luminometer. The use of luciferase to monitor protein expression after injection of cRNA is a sensitive and effective method that efficiently allows for sets of eggs to be used for PLCζ quantitation, Ca²⁺ imaging, and studies of embryo development.