US 6,635,452 B1 · Releasable nonvolatile mass label molecules

Abstract

Using nonvolatile, releasable, mass-labels, the present invention provides for the synthesis and use of mass-labeled compounds to specifically interact with biomolecular targets. Following binding of the mass-labeled compounds to the target molecule, the unique mass-label can be analyzed using mass spectrometry to identify and characterize the target molecule. In one embodiment of the invention, a mass-labeled oligonucleotide probe is used to identify a specific gene sequence. A myriad of mass-labeled compounds may be produced for use in a wide variety of interactions such as oligonucleotide-oligonucleotide hybridization, polynucleotide-polynucleotide interactions, enzyme-substrate or substrate analog/intermediate interactions, polypeptide-nucleic acid interactions, protein-ligand interactions, receptor-ligand interactions, polypeptide-metal interactions, nucleic acid-metal interactions or antigen-antibody interactions. Also contemplated are combinatorial processes for creating large libraries of compounds permitting rapid screening for a wide variety of targets.

Claims90

Dependent claims

A method for detecting a target molecule, comprising:

(a) obtaining a target molecule;
(b) amplifying the target molecule to produce an amplified target molecule;
(c) obtaining a probe comprising a polynucleotide reactive group, a release group and a mass label;
(d) hybridizing the amplified target molecule to the probe to produce a probe:amplified target molecule complex;
(e) releasing the mass label from the probe:amplified target molecule complex to obtain a released mass label;
and
(f) determining the mass of the released mass label by mass spectrometry, thereby detecting the target molecule.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Releasable nonvolatile mass label molecules

Life of this patent

Releasable nonvolatile mass label molecules

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims90