Improvement of position of label (POL) influence by fluorescently-labeled helper probe

Abstract

DNA m icroarray-based technologies provide for high-throughput methods and the simultaneous analysis of a large number of genetic information at one assay. However, several important aspects of microarray technology such as the selection of optimal oligonucleotide probes and improvement of hybridization kinetics still have to be resolved. Recently, Lei Zhang et al. proposed that one of the important things in applications of a short oligonucleotide microarray is the position of label (POL) effect. In this study, we fabricated a microarray for the identification of polymorphisms in human mitochondrial DNA hypervariable region II (HVII), as well as a fluorescently-labeled helper probe applied to a fabricated microarray. In conclusion, we report on the results obtained with additional fluorescently-labeled oligonucleotide probes, called helper probes, in an attempt to improve the relative POL influences. Microarray results were improved and reduced the POL effect. These results may contribute to better hybridization patterns, data interpretation, and a new aspect for the selection of an efficient probe in microarray applications.