title: Design and use of scorpions fluorescent signaling molecules.
abstract: A number of probe systems exist for the real-time detection of PCR products. Scorpions are a unique method wherein primer and probe are combined in a single oligonucleotide. During the PCR, the probe element becomes linked directly to its complementary target site with beneficial consequences. In particular, the unimolecular mechanism of probe/target hybridization ensures rapid, reliable, and robust probing of a chosen amplicon. We discuss the design and use of Scorpions and compare their use with similar systems.
authors.affiliation: DXS Ltd, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Rachael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carters
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.forename: Rupert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gaut
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ravetto
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Thelwell
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Whitcombe
mesh_terms: D019313:BRCA1 Protein / Q000235:genetics; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D004735:Energy Transfer; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D019313:BRCA1 Protein; D017931:DNA Primers; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes