Caged molecular beacons: controlling nucleic acid hybridization with light

We have constructed a novel class of light-activatable caged molecular beacons (cMBs) that are caged by locking two stems with a photo-labile biomolecular interaction or covalent bond. With the cMBs, the nucleic acid hybridization process can be easily controlled with light, which offers the possibility for a high spatiotemporal resolution study of intracellular mRNAs.NSFC[20805038, 21075104]; MOE[200803841013]; National Basic Research Program of China[2007CB935603, 2010CB732402]; National Key Scientific Program of China[2011CB911000]; China National Grand Program on Key Infectious Disease[2009ZX10004-312]; NIH; Procter and Gambl