Nucleic Acid Probes, their Synthesis and Use

摘要

The invention provides a method of probing for a nucleic acid comprising: contacting a nucleic acid solution with an oligonucleotide probe labelled with an electrochemically active marker, providing conditions at which the probe is able to at least partially hybridise with any complementary target sequence which may be present in the nucleic acid solution, selectively degrading either hybridised, partially hybridised or unhybridised nucleic acid probe, and electrochemically determining information relating to the electrochemically active marker. The invention further provides novel molecules with use in methods of the invention.

主权项

1. A method of electrochemically detecting a nucleic acid in a sample with an electrode, the method comprising:
contacting a nucleic acid sample in a container comprising said electrode with an oligonucleotide probe comprising an oligonucleotide and an electrochemically active marker and hybridizing the oligonucleotide probe with any complementary target sequence present in the nucleic acid sample; digesting the hybridized, nucleic acid in the sample with a duplex-specific nuclease to form a mononucleotide and/or a dinucleotide labeled with the electrochemically active marker; wherein the mononucleotide and/or the dinucleotide migrate to the electrode in the container, and wherein the electrochemical signal of the electrochemically active marker on the mononucleotide and/or dinucleotide is detected at the electrode.