Because the probe and primer are incorporated into a single molecule, the reaction kinetics of this probe are extremely fast. The reaction leading to generation of a fluorescent signal is essentially instantaneous and occurs prior to any competing side reactions. This enables Scorpions^® probes to provide stronger signals, shorter reaction times and better discrimination than other conventional bi-molecular mechanisms. It also allows for more reliable probe design.

Benefits of Using Scorpions^® Probes include:

• Increased specificity
• Fast amplicon detection
• Exceptional signal-to-noise

Locked Nucleic Acid Dual-labeled Probes

Adding locked nucleic acids to your probe increases thermal stability and hybridization specificity. They allow greater accuracy in SNP detection, allele discrimination, and in vitro quantification or detection. Locked nucleic acids also allow easier and more sensitive probe designs for problematic target sequences.

How Uni-Probe Scorpions^® Probes Work

The Scorpions^® Uni-Probe consists of a single-stranded bi-labeled fluorescent probe sequence held in a hairpin-loop conformation with a 5’ end reporter and an internal quencher directly linked to the 5’ end of a PCR primer via a blocker. The blocker prevents the polymerase from extending the PCR primer.

At the beginning of the qPCR, the polymerase extends the PCR primer and synthesizes the complementary strand of the specific target sequence. During the next cycle, the hairpin-loop unfolds and the loop-region of the probe hybridizes intramolecularly to the newly synthesized target sequence. Now that the reporter is no longer in close proximity to the quencher, fluorescence emission may take place. The fluorescent signal is detected by the qPCR instrument and is directly proportional to the amount of target DNA.

Design and Customize your qPCR Probes to best suit your application

Labels and Modifications

The available reporter and quencher combinations are listed below. Scorpions^® Probes include a HEG (hexathylene glycol) blocker.