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Inside the Assay: How We Use the Tecan Spark for Luminescence-Based Drug Screening
Not every assay question needs a bigger instrument. It needs a more sensitive one. That is the case we make for luminescence-based detection, and it is why the Tecan Spark Multimode Plate Reader has become one of the more heavily used platforms in our assay development work.
Why Luminescence Over Fluorescence
Luminescence assays couple a luciferase enzyme with a compatible luciferin substrate to generate light, with no external excitation source required. That absence of excitation is the whole advantage: less autofluorescence, less optical interference, and none of the photobleaching or phototoxicity that comes with exciting a fluorophore.
Higher sensitivity
Superior signal-to-noise ratios
Broader dynamic range
Reduced background interference
Lower sample volume requirements
Increased throughput potential
What We Actually Run on the Platform
Dual-luciferase reporter assays for gene expression and target validation. BRET and NanoBRET assays for intracellular protein interaction studies, binding efficiency, and target engagement. Compound screening, uptake assays, biologic evaluation, and assay validation and optimization work across drug discovery programs.
Promega HiBiT Experience
We have supported studies using the Promega HiBiT system on the Tecan Spark platform for sensitive measurement of protein expression, degradation, and target abundance, work that depends on an instrument sensitive enough to catch low-abundance signal without drowning it in background.
Where This Fits a Screening Program
In practice, this capability supports drug discovery, biotherapeutic development, cell biology, molecular biology, gene expression studies, protein interaction research, and translational research programs, exploratory work and high-throughput screening alike.
If assay sensitivity or throughput is the bottleneck in your program, our team can talk through what the Tecan Spark platform can add.
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