A study on the relationship between the degradation of protein and the postmortem interval / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the degradation of actin and tubulin in the liver tissue of rats after death and to find an objective indicator of the postmortem interval (PMI).@*METHODS@#Female rats were killed under anesthesia by ether and incubated at 21 degrees C in a temperature controlled system to simulate postmortem changes for 18 days postmortem. Protein in the hepatic tissue was extracted, actin and tubulin were then examined by western blot. Thereafter, the semi-quantitative analysis of the image of western blot was performed.@*RESULTS@#Actin in the liver tissue of rats could be detected at 8 days postmortem, but could not be examined after 10 days postmortem. beta-tubulin rather than alpha-tubulin could be examined after 2 days postmortem, and beta-tubulin could not be examined at 4 days postmortem.@*CONCLUSION@#There is some difference in the degradation between actin and tubulin, their different preservation period postmortem may be used as a parameter for PMI estimation.

A preliminary study on estimation of postmortem interval according to beta-actin mRNA stability in rat / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#In order to find a new parameter to estimate the postmortem interval, beta-actin mRNA in lung and thoracic muscle of rats was detected at different time point postmortem.@*METHODS@#Rats were killed by neck dislocation and left in a temperature controlling system at 21 degrees C for 12 days postmortem. Total RNA in lung and thoracic muscle at different time point was extracted and beta-actin mRNA expression was examined by RT-PCR. Semi-quantification analysis of the image of electrophoresis was performed to confirm the changes of beta-actin mRNA expression.@*RESULTS@#beta-actin mRNA in lung of rats still could be detected at 12 days postmortem, but-disappeared in thoracic muscle at 8 days postmortem.@*CONCLUSION@#The expression of beta-actin mRNA in lung and thoracic muscle could be a new parameter for estimation of PMI.