A New Approach to the Investigation of Sexual Offenses-Cytoskeleton Analysis Reveals the Origin of Cells Found on Forensic Swabs

:  There are forensic inquiries in which an identification of epithelial cell types would provide important probative evidence. In cancer diagnosis, this information is yielded by histological examination of cytokeratin (Ck). Therefore, we tested 19 antibodies against different Cks (Ck1, Ck2e, Ck4,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of forensic sciences 2010-03, Vol.55 (2), p.492-498
Main Authors: Schulz, Martin M., Buschner, Maximilian G.D., Leidig, Richard, Wehner, Heinz-D., Fritz, Peter, Häbig, Karina, Bonin, Michael, Schütz, Monika, Shiozawa, Thomas, Wehner, Frank
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antigens
Cells
cytokeratins
Cytoskeleton
DNA
Epidermis - cytology
Epidermis - metabolism
epithelial cells
Female
Forensic Pathology
forensic science
Forensic sciences
Humans
immunocytology
Keratins - genetics
Keratins - metabolism
Male
Mouth Mucosa - cytology
Mouth Mucosa - metabolism
mRNA
Penis - cytology
Penis - metabolism
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Rectum - cytology
Rectum - metabolism
Ribonucleic acid
RNA
RNA, Messenger - metabolism
Sex crimes
Sex Offenses
sexual offense
Staining and Labeling
Vagina - cytology
Vagina - metabolism
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Summary::  There are forensic inquiries in which an identification of epithelial cell types would provide important probative evidence. In cancer diagnosis, this information is yielded by histological examination of cytokeratin (Ck). Therefore, we tested 19 antibodies against different Cks (Ck1, Ck2e, Ck4, Ck5‐6, Ck7, Ck8, Ck9, CK10, Ck13, Ck14, Ck15, Ck16, Ck17, Ck18, Ck19, Ck20, Ck903, PanCkAE1_3, and CAM5‐2) on histological sections of epidermis, buccal mucosa, vaginal mucosa, penis, urogenital tract, and rectum and could identify two antigens unique to buccal‐cell and vaginal‐cell (Ck4) and skin epithelial‐cell (Ck10) cytokeratin. Subsequently, we developed an immunocytological technique for distinguishing swabbed skin and mucosal cells up to at least 1 year after sampling. By the detection of the Ck4 and Ck10 mRNAs in biopsy and laser capture microdissection collected samples via quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction, we were able to confirm our immunological findings. Hence, this study offers techniques to discriminate between skin and mucosal cells (buccal and vaginal) in forensic casework.
ISSN:0022-1198
1556-4029
DOI:10.1111/j.1556-4029.2009.01071.x