Silva Sarah S, Lopes Cátia, Teixeira A L, Carneiro de Sousa M J, Medeiros R
ICBAS, Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; Molecular Oncology group, Portuguese Institute of Oncology, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal.
ICBAS, Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
Forensic Sci Int Genet. 2015 Jan;14:1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2014.09.002. Epub 2014 Sep 10.
In forensic investigation, body fluids represent an important support to professionals when detected, collected and correctly identified. Through many years, various approaches were used, namely serology-based methodologies however, their lack of sensitivity and specificity became difficult to set aside. In order to sidetrack the problem, miRNA profiling surged with a real potential to be used to identify evidences like urine, blood, menstrual blood, saliva, semen and vaginal secretions. MiRNAs are small RNA structures with 20-25 nt whose proprieties makes them less prone to degradation processes when compared to mRNA which is extremely important once, in a crime scene, biological evidences might be exposed to several unfavorable environmental factors. Recently, published studies were able to identify some specific miRNAs, however their results were not always reproducible by others which can possibly be the reflection of different workflow strategies for their profiling studies. Given the current blast of interest in miRNAs, it is important to acknowledge potential limitations of miRNA profiling, yet, the lack of such studies are evident. This review pretends to gather all the information to date and assessed a multitude of factors that have a potential aptitude to discrediting miRNA profiling, such as: methodological approaches, environmental factors, physiological conditions, gender, pathologies and samples storage. It can be asserted that much has yet to be made, but we pretend to highlight a potential answer for the ultimate question: Can miRNA profiling be used as the forensic biomarker for body fluids identification?
在法医调查中，体液一旦被检测、收集并正确识别，便对专业人员具有重要的辅助作用。多年来，人们采用了各种方法，即基于血清学的方法，然而，其缺乏敏感性和特异性的问题已难以忽视。为了解决这一问题，miRNA分析技术应运而生，它具有用于识别尿液、血液、经血、唾液、精液和阴道分泌物等证据的实际潜力。miRNA是一种长度为20 - 25个核苷酸的小RNA结构，与极易降解的mRNA相比，其特性使其更不易发生降解过程，这在犯罪现场生物证据可能暴露于多种不利环境因素的情况下极为重要。最近，已发表的研究能够鉴定出一些特定的miRNA，然而其结果并非总能被其他研究重复，这可能反映了其分析研究的不同工作流程策略。鉴于目前对miRNA的高度关注，认识到miRNA分析的潜在局限性很重要，然而，此类研究的匮乏是显而易见的。本综述旨在收集迄今为止的所有信息，并评估众多可能使miRNA分析失去可信度的因素，例如：方法学途径、环境因素、生理状况、性别、病理情况和样本储存。可以断言，仍有许多工作要做，但我们旨在为最终问题突出一个潜在答案：miRNA分析能否用作体液鉴定的法医生物标志物？
