Using miRNAs and circRNAs to estimate PMI in advanced stage

Tu, Chunyan; Du, Tieshuai; Ye, Xing; Shao, Chengchen; Xie, Jianhui; Shen, Yiwen

doi:10.1016/j.legalmed.2019.04.002

Cited by 43 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The total nucleic acid content, however, can be extracted from a sample by means of a coextraction, producing two fractions: the DNA content and the total RNA component. This allows efficient processing of forensic samples, with BFID and DNA profiling occurring in parallel Alvarez et al 2004;Bowden et al 2011;van der Meer et al 2013;Li et al 2014;Watanabe et al 2014).…”

Section: Body Fluid Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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). Although the results of this research are promising, there are many variables to be considered in estimating PMI, which are much more complex in real-life scenarios with humans than in laboratory conditions using animal models.…”

Section: Other Potential Future Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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: Body Fluid Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Other Potential Future Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential applications of microRNA profiling to forensic investigations

Glynn

2019

RNA

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“…Using a mixed effect model, the Fold-change of miR-381-3p could be predicted at 0, 3, 12 and 24 h of PMI. The presence of several miRNAs in various tissues has been described through the PMI in humans and in rats (Lv et al, 2017;Tu et al, 2019). However, the analyzed gene expression of some miRNAs has been mainly focused in finding control genes potentially useful for PMI calculation based on gene expression analysis in death bodies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dysregulation of miR-381-3p and miR-23b-3p in skeletal muscle could be a possible estimator of early post-mortem interval in rats

Martínez-Rivera

Cárdenas-Monroy

Millan-Catalan

et al. 2021

PeerJ

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Background The post-mortem interval (PMI) is the time elapsed since the dead of an individual until the body is found, which is relevant for forensic purposes. The miRNAs regulate the expression of some genes; and due to their small size, they can better support degradation, which makes them suitable for forensic analysis. In the present work, we evaluated the gene expression of miR-381-3p, miR-23b-3p, and miR-144-3p in skeletal muscle in a murine model at the early PMI. Methods We designed a rat model to evaluate the early PMI under controlled conditions. This model consisted in 25 rats divided into five groups of rats, that correspond to the 0, 3, 6, 12 and 24 hours of PMI. The 0 h-PMI was considered as the control group. Muscle samples were taken from each rat to analyze the expression of miR-381-3p, miR-23b-3p, and miR-144-3p by quantitative RT-PCR. The gene expression of each miRNA was expressed as Fold Change (FC) and compared among groups. To find the targets of these miRNAs and the pathways where they participate, we performed an in-silico analysis. From the gene targets of miR-381-3p identified in the silico analysis, the EPC1 gene was selected for gene expression analysis by quantitative RT-PCR in these samples. Also, to evaluate if miR-381-3p could predict the early PMI, a mixed effects model was calculated using its gene expression. Results An upregulation of miR-381-3p was found at 24 h-PMI compared with the control group of 0 h-PMI and (FC = 1.02 vs. FC = 1.96; p = 0.0079). This was the opposite for miR-23b-3p, which had a down-regulation at 24 h-PMI compared to 0 h-PMI (FC = 1.22 vs. FC = 0.13; p = 0.0079). Moreover, the gene expression of miR-381-3p increased throughout the first 24 h of PMI, contrary to miR-23b-3p. The targets of these two miRNAs, participate in biological pathways related to hypoxia, apoptosis, and RNA metabolism. The gene expression of EPC1 was found downregulated at 3 and 12 h of PMI, whereas it remained unchanged at 6 h and 24 h of PMI. Using a multivariate analysis, it was possible to predict the FC of miR-381-3p of all but 6 h-PMI analyzed PMIs. Discussion The present results suggest that miR-23b-3p and miR-381-3p participate at the early PMI, probably regulating the expression of some genes related to the autolysis process as EPC1 gene. Although the miR-381-3p gene expression is a potential estimator of PMI, further studies will be required to obtain better estimates.

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“…Tu et al used 15 sacrificed healthy adult male mice, and heart, liver, and skeletal muscle tissue samples stored at 25 • C; the mice were then divided into five groups with different PMI values: 0, 1.5, 3.5, 5.5, and 7.5 d. The authors built a mathematical model for PMI estimation, using miR-122 as a reference biomarker for heart and liver and miR-133a for heart and skeletal muscle [31,68].…”

Section: Current Literature About Mirnas In Pmimentioning

confidence: 99%

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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Using miRNAs and circRNAs to estimate PMI in advanced stage

Cited by 43 publications

References 29 publications

Potential applications of microRNA profiling to forensic investigations

Potential applications of microRNA profiling to forensic investigations

Dysregulation of miR-381-3p and miR-23b-3p in skeletal muscle could be a possible estimator of early post-mortem interval in rats

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

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