title: Investigation of the hybrid molecular probe for intracellular studies.
abstract: Monitoring gene expression in vivo is essential to the advancement of biological studies, medical diagnostics, and drug discovery. Adding to major efforts in developing molecular probes for mRNA monitoring, we have recently developed an alternative tool, the hybrid molecular probe (HMP). To optimize the probe, a series of experiments were performed to study the properties of HMP hybridization kinetics and stability. The results demonstrated the potential of the HMP as a prospective tool for use in both hybridization studies and in vitro and in vivo analyses. The HMP has shown no tendency to produce false positive signals, which is a major concern for living cell studies. Moreover, HMP has shown the ability to detect the mRNA expression of different genes inside single cells from both basal and stimulated genes. As an effective alternative to conventional molecular probes, the proven sensitivity, simplicity, and stability of HMPs show promise for their use in monitoring mRNA expression in living cells.
authors.affiliation: Center for Research at the Bio/Nano Interface, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Colin D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Medley
authors.forename: Chaoyong James
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D015342:DNA Probes / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007424:Intracellular Fluid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D007700:Kinetics; D015335:Molecular Probes / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D015335:Molecular Probes; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols