[Thermoinactivation of bacterial luciferase]

The kinetics of thermal inactivation of bacterial luciferase was studied. It was found that the reaction substrates produce a weak protecting effect against the enzyme inactivation. EDTA, dithiothreitol and bovine serum albumin considerably stabilize the luciferase. The hypothetical mechanism of the enzyme inactivation involves oxidation of SH-groups and dissociation of the dimer into inactive monomers.