The University of Alabama

Krishnan K Chittur

Marc L Pusey

Joseph D Ng

Jeffrey J Dowell

A nucleic acid detector and a method of using the detector are disclosed for detecting the presence of target nucleic acid sequences within a sample. The nucleic acid detector comprises a substrate-bound, hairpin-shaped nucleic acid captor in conjunction with a labeled universal nucleic acid detector probe. The captor has a segment that is complementary to at least a portion of the target nucleic acid and is denatured and hybridized to the target under test conditions. Hybridization of the captor to the target maintains the captor in an open conformation which exposes an end portion of the captor to the universal detector probe. The detector probe is able to hybridize with the exposed end portion of the captor if the captor has hybridized with a target. The labeled detector probe is detectable by external detection methods. Detector probes having identical universal detector probe sequences may be used to identify the presence of multiple targets having various target sequences within a sample. An assay embodying the detector and method is also contemplated.

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Huntsville, AL, United States of America

Krishnan K Chittur