Homogeneous nucleic acids detection generally suffer from non-specific interactions between the fluorescent probe and unintended mismatch sequences. If adequate care is not taken, such non-specific interaction may lead to false positives. Our laboratory has been using nucleic acid blockers (NABs) to prevent such non-specific interactions. NABs are non-fluorescent linear or hairpin nucleic acids that are perfectly complementary to individual mismatch sequence. Therefore, they may be used to specifically hybridize mismatch sequences in nucleic acids detection. They help to significantly improve sequence-specificity of fluorescent probes that are employed in such detection. It has been reported previously that linear NABs may not be as effective as hairpin NABs when used for blocking non-specific interactions between probe and mismatch sequences. We have used both linear and hairpin NABs for the detection of different microRNAs and our results revealed that both linear and hairpin NABs worked equally effectively for blocking non-specific interactions. We found that such good performance by both kinds of NABs is obtainable at NABs/probe molar ratio of not more than 6:1. This molar ratio is significantly low when compared to previous reports, which have shown much higher molar ratio of up to 2000:1. This presentation will show the results we have so far obtained for both linear and hairpin NABs and discuss the data in the context of the relatively low NABs/probe molar ratio used in our experiments. 

Linear and hairpin nucleic acids blockers equally enhance sequence-specificity at low molar ratio

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.