title: Molecular engineering of DNA: molecular beacons.
abstract: Molecular beacons (MBs) are specifically designed DNA hairpin structures that are widely used as fluorescent probes. Applications of MBs range from genetic screening, biosensor development, biochip construction, and the detection of single-nucleotide polymorphisms to mRNA monitoring in living cells. The inherent signal-transduction mechanism of MBs enables the analysis of target oligonucleotides without the separation of unbound probes. The MB stem-loop structure holds the fluorescence-donor and fluorescence-acceptor moieties in close proximity to one another, which results in resonant energy transfer. A spontaneous conformation change occurs upon hybridization to separate the two moieties and restore the fluorescence of the donor. Recent research has focused on the improvement of probe composition, intracellular gene quantitation, protein-DNA interaction studies, and protein recognition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Center for Research at the Bio/Nano Interface, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7200, USA.
authors.forename: Kemin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhiwen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Chaoyong James
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Youngmi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yanrong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Colin D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Medley
authors.forename: Zehui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colon
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D015342:DNA Probes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D006801:Humans; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D011506:Proteins; D004247:DNA