The mirMASA technology. A specific 10–12 nucleotide-long capture oligonucleotide (oligo) and a specific 8–10 nucleotide-long detection oligo are synthesized for each MIR. The capture oligo is covalently linked to color-coded microspheres (beads), whereas the detection oligo is labeled with biotin. For each MIR, the capture oligo is linked to a unique color-coded bead. Both capture and detection oligos are spiked with Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) nucleotides to increase specificity and sensitivity. The biotin is used for detection following addition of streptavidin-phycoerythrin and reading the fluorescence associated with each color-coded bead.
