Patent ID: 6228578
Filing Date: 2001-05-08
Classification: C12Q

Abstract:
A non-radioactive solution hybridization assay for the detection of a target nucleic acid sequence in a biological sample the improvement comprising the steps of:a) adding to the sample base to a final concentration of between 0.2 M and 0.8 M, at a temperature of between 60 and 70.degree. C., for between 30 and 120 minutes, to hydrolyze the RNA in the sample and denature the target DNA;b) hybridizing the target DNA sequence in the treated sample to a complementary RNA probe to form a double-stranded DNA/RNA hybrid;c) capturing the hybrid onto a solid phase to which an anti-hybrid antibody or functional anti-hybrid antibody fragment has been immnobilized, wherein the antibody or antibody fragment specifically binds to a component of the double-stranded DNA/RNA hybrid;d) eliminating any non-hybridized probe by digestion with RNAse; ande) detecting the bound hybrid, wherein the detection of bound hybrid quantitatively indicates the presence of the target DNA sequence in the sample, wherein the assay provides an accuracy of at least about 89%.