Electron spin resonance for detecting polyadenylate tracts in RNA's.

Electron spin resonance is used to detect RNA's that contain polyadenylate tracts. The method depends on the ability of RNA's that contain polyadenylate sequences to associate with poly(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro)uridylic acid, which has been spin-labeled with 4-(2-iodoacetamido)-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinooxyl. The formation of the hybridization product can be detected by monitoring the decrease in mobility of the spin probe.