Analysis of RNA in the estimation of post-mortem interval: a review of current evidence

Scrivano, Salvatore; Sanavio, Matteo; Tozzo, Pamela; Caenazzo, Luciana

doi:10.1007/s00414-019-02125-x

Cited by 48 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Currently, a variety of methods are used to estimate PMI (e.g., physical, physiochemical, biochemical, microbiological, entomological, and botanical processes) (Henssge and Madea 2007); however, none are absolute. The degradation of nucleic acids (both DNA and RNA) have been well-studied, and it recently has been suggested that nucleic acids could be ideal biomarkers of PMI (Di Nunno et al 1998;Liu et al 2007;Sampaio-Silva et al 2013;Scrivano et al 2019). Both miRNAs and circulating RNAs (circRNAs) have shown satisfactory stability across a range of tissue types in the postmortem interval, highlighting that miRNAs are less susceptible to their environmental conditions and therefore suitable as stable reference genes (Tu et al 2019).…”

Section: Other Potential Future Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential applications of microRNA profiling to forensic investigations

Glynn

2019

RNA

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Within the forensic science community, there is a continued push to develop novel tools to aid in criminal investigations. microRNA (miRNA) analysis has been the focus of many researcher's attention in the biomedical field since its discovery in 1993; however, the forensic application of miRNA analysis has only been suggested within the last 10 years and has been gaining considerable traction recently. The primary focus of the forensic application of miRNA analysis has been on body fluid identification to provide confirmatory universal analysis of unknown biological stains obtained from crime scenes or evidence items. There are, however, other forensic applications of miRNA profiling that have shown potential, yet are largely understudied, and warrant further investigation such as organ tissue identification, donor age estimation, and more. This review paper aims to evaluate the current literature and future potential of miRNA analysis within the forensic science field.

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Section: Other Potential Future Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential applications of microRNA profiling to forensic investigations

Glynn

2019

RNA

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“…Lv et al used rat spleen samples, creating two groups, one stored at 25 • C for 144 h, the other at 4 • C for 312 h. The researchers observed that miRNAs are suitable as endogenous controls in order to determine PMI; moreover the 25 • C group was more reliable due to the shortened time interval (the average error rate was lower than 10% in the 25 • C group versus an error rate lower than 20% in the 4 • C group). In this study it was also concluded that miR-125b was more stable than miR-143 for this purpose [34,68].…”

Section: Current Literature About Mirnas In Pmimentioning

confidence: 57%

“…The same study also correlates miRNAs level with 18s rRNA in order to estimate PMI. [32,68] Pan et al correlated PMI and miR-203 and other RNA markers; they stored rat samples divided into three storage temperature groups: 4, 15 and 35 • C. This study concluded that miR-203 could be taken as an internal reference because of its good stability [33,68].…”

Section: Current Literature About Mirnas In Pmimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They then sampled brain tissue at different time points for up to 144 h PMI. Further analysis showed that miR-125b and miR-9 were, due to their high stability, effective endogenous control markers because they were not affected by PMI up to 144 h. Ma et al used also β-actin as a factor correlated with PMI; in order to build a mathematical model that could estimate the time since death of rats at different temperatures correlating the concentration of the two molecules [35,68].…”

Section: Current Literature About Mirnas In Pmimentioning

confidence: 99%

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MicroRNAs as Useful Tools to Estimate Time Since Death. A Systematic Review of Current Literature

et al. 2021

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Estimating the time of death remains the most challenging question in forensic medicine, because post-mortem interval (PMI) estimation can be a remarkably difficult goal to achieve. The aim of this review is to analyze the potential of microRNAs (miRNAs) to evaluate PMI. MiRNAs have been studied as hallmarks and biomarkers in several pathologies and have also showed interesting applications in forensic science, such as high sensible biomarkers in body fluid and tissue, for wound age determination and PMI evaluation due to their low molecular weight and tissue-specific expression. The present systematic review was carried out according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review (PRISMA) standards. We performed an electronic search of PubMed, Science Direct Scopus, and Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE) from the inception of these databases to 12 August 2020. The search terms were (“PMI miRNA” or “PMI micro RNA”) and (“miRNA” and “time of death”) in the title, abstract and keywords. Through analysis of scientific literature regarding forensic uses of miRNAs, has emerged that the intrinsic characteristics of such molecules, and their subsequent resistance to degradation, make them suitable as endogenous markers in order to determine PMI. However, further and larger studies with human samples and standardized protocols are still needed.

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“…However, the formation of postmortem changes is affected by a large number of changing external and internal factors. In view of this, the expert judgment on the TSD has an interval character, the value of which is determined on the basis of a comparative analysis of the whole set of data received, and in each case can fluctuate within several hours or days (Garcia et al, 2017;Scrivano et al, 2019). The large degree of variation within existing post mortem assessment methods prompts researchers to find new approaches to solve this problem.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diagnostic Possibilities of Analysis of the Map of Linear Birefringence of the Crystal Fraction of Vitreous Body for Accurate Determination of the Time Since Death

Sarkisova

Bachynskіy

Palamar

et al. 2020

PMP

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Introduction: This paper discusses the possibility of polarization microscopic tomography of polycrystalline structure of vitreous body (VB) for use in forensics and in determining the time since death (TSD). Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop a new set of forensic criteria to enhance the functionality of the high-precision definition of TSD over a long period of time according to polarization microscopic tomography of the polycrystalline structure of the VB of the human eye by statistical and wavelet analysis. Results: We obtained the numerical values of the change in the magnitude of the statistical moments of the 1-4 orders, which characterize the coordinate distributions of the magnitude of the linear birefringence (LB) of the polycrystalline component of the VB by the magnitude of the TSD. The results from our research illustrate the differences between the optical anisotropy of fibrillar collagen networks of VB layers with different TSD. The sensitivity range (36 hours) and accuracy (15 minutes) of the method of polarization tomography of the LB distributions of the polycrystalline component of the VB layers in the determined TSD were established. Conclusion: These results confirm the experimental processes outlined accurately determine the time of death. In turn, will provide scientific evidence, specifications thereof, and objective expert opinion.

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Analysis of RNA in the estimation of post-mortem interval: a review of current evidence

Cited by 48 publications

References 24 publications

Potential applications of microRNA profiling to forensic investigations

Potential applications of microRNA profiling to forensic investigations

MicroRNAs as Useful Tools to Estimate Time Since Death. A Systematic Review of Current Literature

Diagnostic Possibilities of Analysis of the Map of Linear Birefringence of the Crystal Fraction of Vitreous Body for Accurate Determination of the Time Since Death

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