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A data-driven, high-throughput methodology to determine tissue-specific differentially methylated regions able to discriminate body fluids
Electrophoresis
  • Joana Antunes, Florida International University
  • Quentin Gauthier, Florida International University
  • Vanessa Aguiar-Pulido, University of Miami
  • George Duncan, Nova Southeastern University
  • Bruce McCord, Florida International University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-11-2021
Keywords
  • Body fluid identification,
  • DNA methylation,
  • Forensic epigenetics,
  • Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array,
  • Serology
Disciplines
Abstract

Tissue-specific differentially methylated regions (tDMRs) are regions of the genome with methylation patterns that modulate gene expression in those tissue types. The detection of tDMRs in forensic evidence can permit the identification of body fluids at trace levels. In this report, we have performed a bioinformatic analysis of an existing array dataset to determine if new tDMRs could be identified for use in body fluid identification from forensic evidence. Once these sites were identified, primers were designed and bisulfite modification was performed. The relative methylation level for each body fluid at a given locus was then determined using qPCR with high-resolution melt analysis (HRM). After screening 127 tDMR's in multiple body fluids, we were able to identify four new markers able to discriminate blood (2 markers), vaginal epithelia (1 marker) and buccal cells (1 marker). One marker for each target body fluid was also tested with pyrosequencing showing results consistent with those obtained by HRM. This work successfully demonstrates the ability of in silico analysis to develop a novel set of tDMRs capable of being differentiated by real time PCR/HRM. The method can rapidly determine the body fluids left at crime scenes, assisting the triers of fact in forensic casework.

Comments

National Institute of Justice. Grant Numbers: 2015-R2-CX-0012, 2017-NX-BX-0001

Additional Comments
© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH
ORCID ID
0000-0002-4931-5316
DOI
10.1002/elps.202000217
Citation Information
Joana Antunes, Quentin Gauthier, Vanessa Aguiar-Pulido, George Duncan, et al.. "A data-driven, high-throughput methodology to determine tissue-specific differentially methylated regions able to discriminate body fluids" Electrophoresis Vol. 42 Iss. 9-10 (2021) p. 1168 - 1176 ISSN: 1522-2683
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/george-duncan/34/