Devices, methods, and kits for amplifying the signal from hybridization
reactions between nucleic acid probes and their cognate targets are presented.
The devices provide partially-duplexed, immobilized probe complexes, spatially
separate from and separately addressable from immobilized docking strands. Cognate
target acts catalytically to transfer probe from the site of probe complex immobilization
to the site of immobilized docking strand, generating a detectable signal. The
methods and kits of the present invention may be used to identify the presence
of cognate target in a fluid sample.