Expression of cell death genes estimates time since death in rats

T. M. Saber, H. A. Ali

Abstract: Estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) is one of the challenges in forensic science. There are several methods estimating the time since death (TSD) involving physical and biochemical methods. Decomposition is initiated by a process called autolysis which induces detrimental alterations in the cell leading to cell death. On the basis of the process of cell death signaling, the current study investigated the early PMI (2–8h after death) using the analysis of the mRNA expression of Fas Ligand (FasL), Caspase-3 and phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10(PTEN) in gastrocnemius muscles of rats by real-time PCR. The results revealed a time-dependent increase in the mRNA levels of these genes until 6 h after death. Moreover, a positive linear correlation was detected between the mRNA expression of these genes and the TSD using a regression analysis in the first 6h after death. This study supplies a quantitative tool for determining the early PMI until 6 h after death based on expression of these cell death genes. Further research is recommended to find other cell death markers and extend the time period for TSD determination.
Keywords: postmortem interval, time since death, mRNA levels, FasL, Caspase-3, PTEN.