Patent ID: 6136531
Filing Date: 2000-10-24
Classification: C12Q

Abstract:
A method of quantitatively detecting a specific nucleic acid molecule in a sample comprising:a) labeling single-stranded nucleic acid molecules isolated from a sample with a first chemical group bound via a linker;b) hybridizing the labeled nucleic acid molecules in solution with a polynucleotide probe which includes at least one single-stranded base sequence that is essentially complementary to the nucleic acid molecule to be determined and at least one additional chemical group that differs from the first group, where said at least one additional chemical group, is a specifically bindable ligand or a enzymatically active group under conditions which support hybridization between the nucleic acid molecule to be determined and the complementary probe sequence so as to obtain a hybrid molecule;c) immobilizing the hybrid molecule on a solid phase via the first chemical group; andd) quantitatively measuring a level of the at least one additional chemical group on said solid phase as a quantitative measure of the specific nucleic acid molecule in said sample, by measuring enzymatic activity of said enzymatically active group or contacting said specifically bindable ligand with an antibody which binds to said specifically bindable ligand, and measuring binding of said antibody to said ligand.