Patent ID: 7867758

Claim:
A bioluminogenic assay system comprising: providing a bioluminogenic substrate incorporating a beta-lactam antibiotic, a bioluminescence initiating compound, and an ether bond joining the beta-lactam antibiotic to the bioluminescence initiating compound, the bioluminescence initiating compound being selected from a D-luciferin molecule, a coelenterazine molecule, and their derivatives and analogs; exposing the bioluminogenic substrate to a beta-lactamase enzyme that catalyzes the release of the bioluminescence initiating compound from the bioluminogenic substrate; co-exposing the bioluminogenic substrate to a bioluminescence indicator reaction catalyzed by a bioluminescent enzyme that employs the bioluminescence initiating compound as a substrate; and detecting a light from the bioluminescence indicator reaction using an optoelectronic sensor as a measure of the activity of the beta-lactamase enzyme.