title: Highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction-free quantum dot-based quantification of forensic genomic DNA.
abstract: Forensic DNA samples can degrade easily due to exposure to light and moisture at the crime scene. In addition, the amount of DNA acquired at a criminal site is inherently limited. This limited amount of human DNA has to be quantified accurately after the process of DNA extraction. The accurately quantified extracted genomic DNA is then used as a DNA template in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification for short tandem repeat (STR) human identification. Accordingly, highly sensitive and human-specific quantification of forensic DNA samples is an essential issue in forensic study. In this work, a quantum dot (Qdot)-labeled Alu sequence was developed as a probe to simultaneously satisfy both the high sensitivity and human genome selectivity for quantification of forensic DNA samples. This probe provided PCR-free determination of human genomic DNA and had a 2.5-femtogram detection limit due to the strong emission and photostability of the Qdot. The Qdot-labeled Alu sequence has been used successfully to assess 18 different forensic DNA samples for STR human identification.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yu Kyung
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Tak
authors.forename: Won Young
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Min Jung
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Eunyoung
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Myun Soo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Jong Jin
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Wook
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Joon Myong
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D020087:Alu Elements; D001710:Biotin / Q000378:metabolism; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis*; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D045663:Quantum Dots; D019809:Streptavidin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001710:Biotin; D004247:DNA; D019809:Streptavidin