Passive internal references for the detection of nucleic acid amplification products
First Claim
1. A reagent composition, said composition comprising:
- a nucleic acid amplification buffer, andan internal reference molecule, said internal reference molecule comprisinga first fluorophore,a second fluorophore, anda backbone connector that does not hybridize in a sequence specific manner to a polynucleotide for amplification under nucleic acid amplification conditions, wherein the backbone connector joins the first and second fluorophores so as to permit the transfer of energy from the first fluorophore to the second fluorophore.
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Abstract
The invention relates to passive internal references for use in quantitating the formation of amplification products in a nucleic amplification reaction. The internal amplification reference molecules of the invention comprise a first and second fluorophore joined together through a backbone connector. The first and second fluorophores are joined on the backbone in a configuration that permits the energy transfer from the first fluorophore to the second fluorophore. The backbone connector is selected so as not to bind to the target nucleic acid sequence under nucleic acid amplification conditions. Preferably, the backbone connector is a polynucleotide. Another aspect of the invention is to provide passive internal reference molecule containing reagent compositions for use in nucleic acid amplification reactions. The compositions comprise the internal amplification reference molecule of the invention and a nucleic acid amplification reaction buffer. The reagent compositions, optionally, include additional components required for nucleic acid amplification reactions. The invention also provides improved methods of measuring the amount of amplification product in nucleic acid amplification reactions employing fluorescer-quencher probe assays, including methods for the real-time measurement of amplification product formation. The methods comprise the step of adding the internal reference molecule of the invention to the amplification reaction mixture. Fluorescence of the second fluorophore on the internal reference may then be measured and used to calculate changes in fluorescence of the fluorophore on a fluorescer-quencher probe.
189 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A reagent composition, said composition comprising:
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a nucleic acid amplification buffer, and an internal reference molecule, said internal reference molecule comprising a first fluorophore, a second fluorophore, and a backbone connector that does not hybridize in a sequence specific manner to a polynucleotide for amplification under nucleic acid amplification conditions, wherein the backbone connector joins the first and second fluorophores so as to permit the transfer of energy from the first fluorophore to the second fluorophore. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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9. In a method of measuring the amount of an amplification product of a polynucleotide for amplification in a nucleic acid reaction wherein the improvement comprises,
adding an internal amplification reference molecule to the amplification reaction, said internal reference molecule comprising a first fluorophore, a second fluorophore, and a backbone connector that does not hybridize to the polynucleotide for amplification under nucleic acid amplification conditions, wherein the backbone connector joins the first and second fluorophores so as to permit the transfer of energy from the first fluorophore to the second fluorophore.
Specification