Development of a microcapillary column for detecting targeted messenger RNA molecules

A capillary column in a rapid-flow system has been developed for detecting targeted messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules. The column has a structure made of two beds—one bed of porous microbeads and one bed of microbeads with a polythymidine base sequence. The targeted eukaryotic mRNA molecules are detected by two-step hybridization (sandwich hybridization) composed of polyadenosine selection of mRNA molecules and formation of a probe–target (targeted mRNA) hybrid. The sandwich hybridization, which is accomplished within 1 h, was tested using synthetic polydeoxynucleotides. Ten picomoles of the targeted polydeoxynucleotide were detected.