Patent Application: US-95503701-A

Abstract:
this invention provides a means of detecting unlabeled dna or rna following hybridization to an immobilized , labeled dna probe . the immobilized dna oligomers form a hairpin structure containing a unique restriction site that persists only when hybridization to the internal target - hybridization sequence has not occurred . restriction enzyme digestion of unhybridized , labeled dna probes at or above room temperature detaches the label from the surface and the label is washed away . the hairpin structure is disrupted when hybridization of the internal target - hybridization sequence occurs , removing the restriction site and preventing cleavage . in this case , the labels on target - hybridized probes remain bound to the substrate and are detected . in its preferred embodiment , a bioluminescent label is located on one end of the probe and a surface attachment moiety is on the other . applications include characterization of mutations and single nucleotide polymorphisms in dna and rna , genomic fingerprinting , analysis of dna or rna sequence for medical diagnostics , and pathogen detection and identification .

Description:
the invention is a probe with a removable label ( prl ) that can be used to detect hybridization without labeling target dna . the prl structure differs from that of a molecular beacon in three ways : 1 ) the stem structure contains a restriction enzyme recognition site , 2 ) different label types , including fluorescent labels , can be used and no quencher is necessary , 3 ) a moiety is present to attach the prl to surfaces to form arrays ( fig1 ). like molecular beacons , the stem structure in the prl must open upon hybridization of the loop sequence to complementary target dna or rna . the stem structures may be approximately 4 - 9 nucleotides in length . for each prl array , a restriction enzyme is used that has a restriction site in each stem sequence but does not have a restriction site or a recognition site in any of the hybridized loop sequences . a list of several potential restriction enzymes and their recognition sequences is given in table 1 . identification of additional suitable restriction enzymes can be readily determined based on the present disclosure of the invention and generally available knowledge in the field of molecular biology . for example , the prl shown in fig1 has both the pal i recognition site and restriction site located in the stem . the stem sequence ggccag , written 5 ′ to 3 ′, can be cut by pal i forming the fragments gg and ccag . after this fragmentation , covalent bonds no longer connect the label to the surface . the six weaker hydrogen bonds between the two cg base pairs are not strong enough to hold the label to the bound portion of the prl and the label can be washed away . other stem sequences , used with other restriction enzymes in table 1 , may have more than six hydrogen bonds remaining . washes at elevated temperatures can be used to break these hydrogen bonds without damaging the covalent bonds . the conditions used for washing away the labeled nucleotide fragment subsequent to restriction enzyme digestion may be routinely determined by one skilled in the art based on the restriction site and restriction enzyme used . such information is typically available from the company source of the restriction enzyme . the loop portion of the prl should be about 16 to 25 nucleotides in length . in order to function properly , the hybrid formed upon hybridization of a fully complementary dna to the loop sequence must be more energetically favorable than the stem hybrid , however , any loop hybrid containing mismatches must be energetically less favorable than the stem hybrid . in order to achieve this , the length or composition of the loop and / or stem sequences is varied . commonly , a loop sequence with a high at content requires more nucleotides in the loop sequence or a weaker stem sequence . a loop sequence with a higher gc content may need a reduced length or a more stable stem sequence . in the preferred embodiment shown in fig1 an aminopropanol moiety is at the 3 ′ end of the prl . this group can be used to covalently attach dna oligonucleotides to glass surfaces and form arrays [ 23 ]. a biotin moiety is bound to the 5 ′ end of the prl ( fig1 ). biotin and streptavidin have a strong affinity for each other and are routinely used as stable linking agents . bioluminescent enzymes can be conjugated to streptavidin . when streptavidin - enzyme conjugate and biotin - labeled prls are incubated together , the bioluminescent enzyme becomes attached to the prls . polythymine nucleotide spacers are located at the ends of the prl ( fig1 ). the number of thymine nucleotides in these spacers can be adjusted to decrease steric hindrances of restriction enzyme activity . other organic moieties , such as alkane chains , could be used as spacers . this embodiment demonstrates the utility of this invention for determining the presence or absence of specific rna or dna sequences ( fig2 ). the invention will result in a product that could be supplied as an array of bound , bioluminescently - labeled prls . each prl would have a stem structure where two complementary regions of the same molecule hybridize . the array will have the streptavidin - bioluminescent enzyme conjugate attached to the prls . dna and / or rna will be purified by a clinician according to standard methods , which are available in several nucleic acid purification kits . the purified nucleic acids may be sheared into smaller pieces suitable for hybridization and incubated in a buffered solution with the prl array for hybridization to occur . the temperature and conditions of the hybridization step will be determined by the stability of the possible individual hybrids in the prl array . a temperature that reduces non - specific binding of target sequences that are not completely complementary to the array loop sequences can be determined for each array of prls . after hybridization occurs , the array will be washed and restriction enzyme buffer and restriction enzyme will be added . during incubation with the restriction enzyme solution , the prls that are in a hairpin configuration will be cut inside the stem sequence . this cleavage will leave only a few hydrogen bonds holding the label to the surface . the bonds will be unstable and break at room temperature , releasing the label from the bound end of prl . the array will then be washed again to remove the unbound labels and restriction enzyme . the remaining bound bioluminescent enzyme labels will be detected by incubating the array with the appropriate substrate solution and measuring photon production . photon production at a probe site signifies that the sequence within the loop portion of the probe is complementary to a sequence in the target dna or rna . lack of photon production at a prl sight indicates the absence of a sequence in the target dna or rna that is complementary to the probe &# 39 ; s loop sequence . the simplicity and speed of this assay should allow routine use in areas where a parallel genetic test would be advantageous but is often too difficult or time - consuming . examples of uses include genetic screening for human inherited diseases , determining identity or parentage , identifying pathogens and their antibiotic resistance capabilities , and screening foods or materials for contaminating organisms and viruses . other embodiments would include other labels , such as radioisotopic , isotopic , enzymatic , chromogenic , fluorescent , chemiluminescent , or primary and secondary antibodies that are either attached to the prl during synthesis or added in a later step ( before or after hybridization or restriction digestion have occurred ). many new methods for labeling , such as multiple labels , fluorescent beads , and microparticles , are currently being developed and may be used with prls in the future [ 24 ]. the prls can be attached to glass or silicon surfaces according to several other methods [ 25 ]. prls can also be attached to gold or other metal surfaces via sulfhydryl moieties and to microtiter wells via a biotin - streptavidin linkage [ 26 ]. labels and immobilization moieties can be located anywhere along the length of the prl , including the loop sequence region , providing that their location does not interfere with hybridization and that the restriction site lies between the surface - attachment site and the position of the label . the prl may have different types of spacers or multiple spacers for the purpose of raising the prl above the surface ; to reduce steric hindrances during the hybridization , washing , restriction enzyme digestion ; etc . in addition , oligonucleotides can be constructed for use as controls that always remain or are always removed from the surface during the assay . 1 . w . bains and g . c . smith . j . theor . biol . 135 : 303 - 307 ( 1989 ). 3 . e . m . southern , u . maskos , and j . k . elder . genomics 13 : 1008 - 1017 ( 1992 ). 4 . u . maskos and e . m . southern . nucleic acids res . 20 : 1679 - 1684 ( 1992 ). 5 . s . p . a fodor , j . l . read , m . c . pirrung , l . stryer , a . t . lu , and d . solas . science 251 : 767 - 773 ( 1991 ). 6 . k . r . khrapko , y . p . lysov , a . a . khorlin , i . b . ivanov , g . m . yershov , s . k . vasilenko , v . l . florentiev , and a . d . mirzabekov . dna sequencing and mapping 1 : 375 - 388 ( 1991 ). 7 . m . d . eggers , m . e . hogan , r . k . reich , j . b . lamture , k . l . beattie , m . a . hollis , d . j . ehrlich , b . b . kosicki , j . m . shumaker , r . s . varma , b . e . burke , a . murphy , and d . d . rathman . in advances in dna sequencing technology , spie 1891 , ( 1993 ). 8 . c . r . cantor , a . mirzabekov , and e . southern . genomics 13 , 1378 - 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