title: Postmortem muscle protein degradation in humans as a tool for PMI delimitation.
abstract: Forensic estimation of time since death relies on diverse approaches, including measurement and comparison of environmental and body core temperature and analysis of insect colonization on a dead body. However, most of the applied methods have practical limitations or provide insufficient results under certain circumstances. Thus, new methods that can easily be implemented into forensic routine work are required to deliver more and discrete information about the postmortem interval (PMI). Following a previous work on skeletal muscle degradation in the porcine model, we analyzed human postmortem skeletal muscle samples of 40 forensic cases by Western blotting and casein zymography. Our results demonstrate predictable protein degradation processes in human muscle that are distinctly associated with temperature and the PMI. We provide information on promising degradation markers for certain periods of time postmortem, which can be useful tools for time since death delimitation. In addition, we discuss external influencing factors such as age, body mass index, sex, and cause of death that need to be considered in future routine application of the method in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria. stefan.pittner@sbg.ac.at.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pittner
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Bianca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ehrenfellner
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Neuropsychiatry, University of Salzburg, Ignaz-Harrer-Straße 79, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Fabio C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Monticelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zissler
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Alexandra M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sänger
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Stoiber
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Steinbacher
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002154:Calpain / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003893:Desmin / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism*; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D059748:Proteolysis; D013696:Temperature; D014335:Tropomyosin / Q000378:metabolism; D020107:Troponin T / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003893:Desmin; D014335:Tropomyosin; D020107:Troponin T; D002154:Calpain
keywords: Degradation; Human; Postmortem interval (PMI); Protein; Skeletal muscle