DETECTABLY LABELED DUAL CONFORMATION OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PROBES, ASSAYS AND KITS

摘要

Unimolecular and bimolecular hybridization probes for thedetection of nucleic acid target sequences comprise a targetcomplement sequence, an affinity pair holding the probe in aclosed conformation in the absence of target sequence, and eithera label pair that interacts when the probe is in the closedconformation or, for certain unimolecular probes, a non-interactivelabel. Hybridization of the target and targetcomplement sequences shifts the probe to an open conformation.The shift is detectable due to reduced interaction of the labelpair or by detecting a signal from a non-interactive label.Certain unimolecular probes can discriminate between target andnon-target sequences differing by as little as one nucleotide.Also, universal stems and kits useful for constructing saidprobes. Also, assays utilizing said probes and kits forperforming such assays.