Volume 59, Issue 5 pp. 1286-1294
Paper

A Time Course Study Demonstrating mRNA, microRNA, 18S rRNA, and U6 snRNA Changes to Estimate PMI in Deceased Rat's Spleen

Ye-hui Lv M.S.

Ye-hui Lv M.S.

Department of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Medical School of Fudan University, 200032 Shanghai, China

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Kai-jun Ma B.S.

Kai-jun Ma B.S.

Forensic lab, Criminal Science and Technology Institute, Shanghai Public Security Bureau, 200082 Shanghai, China

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Heng Zhang M.S.

Heng Zhang M.S.

Department of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Medical School of Fudan University, 200032 Shanghai, China

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Meng He M.S.

Meng He M.S.

Department of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Medical School of Fudan University, 200032 Shanghai, China

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Ping Zhang M.S.

Ping Zhang M.S.

Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 201102, Shanghai, China

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Yi-wen Shen Ph.D.

Yi-wen Shen Ph.D.

Department of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Medical School of Fudan University, 200032 Shanghai, China

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Nan Jiang M.S.

Nan Jiang M.S.

Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fudan University, 200032 Shanghai, China

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Duan Ma Ph.D.

Duan Ma Ph.D.

Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fudan University, 200032 Shanghai, China

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Long Chen Ph.D.

Corresponding Author

Long Chen Ph.D.

Department of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Medical School of Fudan University, 200032 Shanghai, China

Additional information and reprint requests:

Long Chen, Ph.D.

Department of Forensic Medicine,

Shanghai Medical School of Fudan University

200032 Shanghai

China

E-mail: [email protected]

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First published: 24 February 2014
Citations: 64
Ye-hui Lv and Kai-jun Ma contribute equally to this work.
Supported by the National Science Foundation of China (No. 81172896).

Abstract

Determining the postmortem interval (PMI) is important in criminal, civil, and forensic cases. We examined the feasibility of using the transcript abundances of mRNAs, 18S rRNA, U6 snRNA, and microRNAs as a means to estimate the PMI. We removed spleen tissues from rats at different PMIs under 4°C or 25°C and examined gene transcript abundances in these samples by RT-qPCR. Using the algorithm geNorm, we found that microRNAs to be appropriate control markers because they were less affected by PMI and temperature. We also characterized relationships between observed PMI and the transcript levels of the above-mentioned RNAs. GAPDH1 and ACTB1 fluctuated slightly like cubic curves, while GAPDH2 and ACTB2 decreased rapidly. 18S rRNA transcript level exhibited a parabolic-like trend at 25°C and exponential growth at 4°C, while U6 transcript level exhibited exponential decay at 25°C and a parabolic-like trend at 4°C. Following validation, we conclude that GAPDH2, ACTB2, and 18S rRNA are suitable makers in the accurate determination of PMI.

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