title: Simultaneous analysis of micro-RNA and DNA for determining the body fluid origin of DNA profiles.
abstract: Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) can be specifically expressed in forensically relevant body fluids such as blood or saliva. The aim of the study was to develop a simultaneous extraction and analysis protocol that allows for the acquisition of a DNA profile and the identity of the body fluid using a single process. DNA and micro-RNA were extracted from blood and saliva before undergoing a cDNA synthesis step by using stem-loop reverse transcription PCR. The resulting extracts containing DNA and cDNA synthesized from body fluid-specific miRNA markers then underwent standard STR analysis using a modified ABI AmpFℓSTR(®) NGM SElect™ kit. In all samples, a full DNA profile was obtained along with additional peaks corresponding to the miRNA marker targeted. In all cases, blood samples profiled exhibited a peak indicating the presence of the blood-specific miRNA marker and the saliva sample profiled exhibited a peak indicating the presence of the saliva-specific miRNA marker.
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Donny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van der Meer
authors.forename: Mari L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Uchimoto
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D004247:DNA / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods*; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D048348:Reverse Transcription; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D004247:DNA
keywords: DNA; body fluid identification; co-isolation; forensic genetics; forensic science; micro-RNA