Molecular engineering of DNA: molecular beacons.
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.
Wang
Kemin
K
Department of Chemistry, Center for Research at the Bio/Nano Interface, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7200, USA.
Tang
Zhiwen
Z
Yang
Chaoyong James
CJ
Kim
Youngmi
Y
Fang
Xiaohong
X
Li
Wei
W
Wu
Yanrong
Y
Medley
Colin D
CD
Cao
Zehui
Z
Li
Jun
J
Colon
Patrick
P
Lin
Hui
H
Tan
Weihong
W
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
D015342:DNA Probes; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D011506:Proteins; D004247:DNA