chimeric RNA-DNA oligo probes for northern - sensitivity in miRNA northern detection (Apr/10/2007 )

Hi everybody,
I need to measure the expression of some miRNAs by northern blotting and I'm looking for cheaper alternatives to LNA probes.
The question is: would a RNA-DNA chimeric probe similar to a LNA probe (i.e. 1 RNA base every two DNA bases) display a good sensitivity and specificity? Has anybody tried?

Thank you very much, regards,
Andrea Massimo

whole RNA probe is better than RNA-DNA chimeric probe, it will increase the sensitivity, not sure the specificity.
There is also a paper describe modified cross-linking for miRNA detection, and the paper, properly in NAR method on line, stated that the modififed cross-linking will increasing sensitivity in detection of miRNA by northern blot.