Methods for improving the sensitivity of hybridization assays

摘要

Methods for improving the sensitivity of hybridization assays which reduce non-specific binding (NSB) and non-specific hybridization (NSH) are disclosed. The methods include a washing method utilizing tetraalkylammonium salts at high temperatures, and release methods in which a probe-target complex is released from a solid support and recaptured. Use of both the washing and release methods results in substantial reduction in NSB and NSH without performing several rounds of release and recapture of the target nucleic acids.