Molecular Beacons are a type of oligonucleotide probe (short singled-stranded nucleic acid sequences between 30–50 bases) used in molecular biology and genetics research. They are designed to have a unique sequence flanked by indirect repeats so that a stem-loop structure is formed, allowing the 5′ and 3′ ends to be maintained in proximity. Molecular Beacon probes fluoresce upon hybridization to the target. These structured probes are highly sensitive, sequence specific, and are used for sequence detection in qPCR for in vitro studies.
A Molecular Beacon is a single-stranded bi-labeled fluorescent probe held in a hairpin-loop conformation (20 to 25 nt is most common) by complementary stem sequences (around 4 to 6 nt) at both ends of the probe. The 5’ and 3’ ends of the probe contain a reporter and a quencher molecule, respectively. The loop is a single-stranded DNA sequence complementary to the target sequence. The proximity of the reporter (fluorophore, or fluorescent dye) and quencher causes the quenching of the natural fluorescence emission of the reporter by bringing about energy transfer. The structure and mechanism of a molecular beacon is shown below (Figure 1).
Figure 1.How Molecular Beacons Work
Our probes are provided in a format to simplify your experimental planning.
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*Estimate is based on 3 nmol or 32 µg for 1 OD and 200 nM in 25 µL reaction (5.0 pmol/reaction). Estimate is based on an average sequence length of 30 bases.
The most common fluorophore and quencher combinations are listed below:
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*Delivery times may be longer due to international transit, customs clearance delays, etc. Large projects will be placed on a delivery schedule based upon project needs.
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