The invention relates to a method of generating a signal indicative of the presence of a target nucleic acid in a sample, where the method includes forming a cleavage structure by incubating a sample comprising a target nucleic acid with a probe having a secondary structure that changes upon binding of the probe to the target nucleic acid and further comprising a binding moiety. The invention also includes the steps of cleaving the cleavage structure with a nuclease to release a nucleic acid fragment to generate a signal, wherein generation of the signal is indicative of the presence of a target nucleic acid in a sample, and detecting and/or measuring the amount of the fragment captured by binding of a binding moiety to a capture element on a solid support.The invention also relates to a method of detecting or measuring a target nucleic acid in a sample, where the method includes forming a cleavage structure by incubating a sample containing a target nucleic acid with a probe having a secondary structure that changes upon binding of the probe to a target nucleic acid and comprising a binding moiety, and cleaving the cleavage structure with a nuclease to generate a cleaved nucleic acid fragment and detecting and/or measuring the amount of the fragment captured by binding of a binding moiety to a capture element on a solid support.