SMART:自主研发的混合STR图谱分析系统

目的混合STR图谱的分析是法医遗传学领域的一个难题。目前国内大多数法医DNA实验室依靠人工方法分析混合STR图谱,费时费力,且拆分效果也多有主观性,难以满足日益增长的混合STR图谱分析的需求。本文介绍一套自主研发的混合STR图谱分析系统——SMART(STR Mixture Analysis and Resolution Tools),其能够实现对混合STR图谱的自动化分析,包括拆分混合STR图谱和计算似然比。方法SMART使用的STR峰高的概率模型,考虑了影子峰、降解、基因座特异性扩增效率、峰高变异、插入峰、峰丢失等因素。模型通过比较各个基因型集合拟合当前混合STR图谱的似然值大小来推断最有可能的基因型集合,采用了马尔可夫链蒙特卡洛(MCMC)算法进行求解。结果SMART可应用于不同试剂盒和遗传分析仪产生的数据。经使用ABI-3500XL遗传分析仪和Global Filer试剂盒测试,SMART能够实现对2~5人的混合STR图谱的分析,输出包括混合比例、混合图谱质量、各个贡献者单人的STR基因分型、似然比等多项结果。结论SMART作为一款自主研发的混合STR图谱分析系统,其基本涵盖了国外同类分析系统所具有的功能,技术性能指标达到国际先进水平,能够满足一线法医工作者对于混合STR图谱分析的多样化需求,提高混合STR图谱结果的利用率。     

Separation of sperm and epithelial cells based on fluorescence-activated cell sorting

The detection and separation of spermatozoa is crucial in the forensic investigation of alleged sexual assault cases. Differential lysis and microscopy-based techniques are conventional methods for the isolation of spermatozoa, though are time-consuming and frequently fail with samples containing an unfavourable sperm/epithelial cell ratio. Successful separation by means of fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) has previously been reported, yet little efforts have been dedicated towards the further improvement or routine implementation of this technique. With this ongoing research, a methodology is being developed to sort sperm from epithelial cells by combining the Sperm Hy-Liter™ staining kit and FACS. Sorted sperm cells are then subjected to a direct lysis and low volume PCR (LV-PCR) protocol. Preliminary results demonstrate the successful separation of both cell types at a sperm/epithelial cell ratio of up to 1:500. The direct lysis and LV-PCR protocol allows to produce full haploid profiles from single sperm cells and mostly full diploid profiles from 10 spermatozoa. These data suggest that the proposed methods are potentially viable for forensic casework, yet additional testing is required for validation purposes.     

“UNUSUAL” TISSUES AND SAMPLE COLLECTION STRATEGIES ON EXHUMED BODIES

The choice of soft or hard tissues to be sampled in case of exhumation of corpses for identification purposes or family relationship testing is based on the degradation conditions of the corpse: the more the corpse is degraded, the less DNA is expected to be retrieved from soft tissue. Therefore, the choice of the "best" tissue samples usually falls on teeth and bones in these “difficult” cases, even though the DNA extraction procedure requires time and effort and it can often result in unexpected, negative results.We here present the results of a daily practice survey that shows that it is possible to obtain good results even on DNA extracted from tissues that appear to be less “appealing” to the examiner by performing “simple” corneal/scleral swabs along with cartilage.While DNA extracted from cartilage has been already described, to our knowledge there is no evidence of publications in the scientific literature dealing with cornea/sclera as a source of DNA in the forensic laboratory.The obtained results demonstrate that it may be advisable to consider other tissues which bear the potential of returning good profile results despite not appearing particularly useful and better control of contamination.     

Genetic variation of different Peruvian populations using 23 autosomal STR markers

In the present study the genetic variation of different Peruvian populations was investigated. The samples for this study were obtained from 669 individuals distributed among 11 populations from Peru. All samples were analyzed using 23 autosomal STR markers. The Arlequin v3.5.2.2 software was used to determine the genetic distances (Fst) of the studied populations. Notable population substructure was detected between some populations.     

法医学二代测序STR分型准确度与测序深度的关联性评估

目的利用实验数据对法医学二代测序STR分型测序深度与分型结果准确度的关联性进行评估。方法使用商业化基因组DNA制备单一来源和混合的DNA样本,以Thermo Fisher公司的25重早期测试试剂盒进行目的STR片段扩增,每种扩增产物分别使用4种不同的序列标签平行建库,并控制标记每一种序列标签的文库上机量依次占一张Ion 318芯片的1/4、1/8、1/16、1/32。经Ion PGMTM基因测序仪测序,以及Ion Torrent SuiteTM软件进行数据分析;同时对庞敬博等人发表的基于相同试剂盒和测序仪检测的95名中国汉族无关个体的6928条等位基因、影子峰和噪音序列进行测序深度统计分析,寻找测序深度与STR分型准确度的关联性。结果各基因座测序深度随文库上样量减少而呈明显下降趋势。对于单一来源样本,每张芯片上样不超过8个均一化文库可实现全部基因座的完整分型;对于1∶20比例的混合DNA,每张芯片上样不超过4个均一化文库时,未发现微量组分的等位基因丢失。人群数据测序深度统计显示,该体系基因座间存在不均衡性,有必要针对各基因座分别设定分析阈值参数。结论测序深度与法医学STR分型结果的准确性密切相关,各基因座最低测序深度与平均测序深度的比值可作为设定分析阈值的重要参考指标。本研究确定的单张芯片上样数量仅适用于本实验体系,但相关实验设计和方案可供其他实验体系开展类似工作参考。     

雪地中尿液的DNA检验

尿液样本因为提取难度较大，很少有作为物证检材进行法医鉴定的案例，国内亦未见报道。现报告对雪地中遗留尿液进行法医 DNA鉴定的检案 1例，希望在此基础上建立一套尿液 DNA检验的较成熟的方法。     

Polymorphism of eight X-chromosomal STRs in a Japanese population

Eight X-chromosomal short tandem repeat (X-STR) markers were analyzed in 258 unrelated Japanese (144 males and 114 females) using Mentype^® Argus X-8 PCR Amplification Kit (Biotype AG) which contains DXS7132, DXS7423, DXS8378, DXS10074, DXS10101, DXS10134, DXS10135 and HPRTB. The DXS10135 locus proved to be highly polymorphic marker (PIC: 0.945) and the DXS7423 showed the lowest value (PIC: 0.453). The exact test for genotype distribution showed no significant deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.     

Post-injection hybridization of complementary DNA strands on capillary electrophoresis platforms: A novel solution for dsDNA artifacts

Several laboratories have reported the occurrence of a split or n − 1 peak at the vWA locus in PowerPlex^® 16 and PowerPlex^® ES amplification products separated on 4- and 16-capillary electrophoresis instruments. The root cause of this artifact is post-PCR reannealing of the unlabeled, unincorporated vWA primer to the 3′-end of the tetramethylrhodamine (TMR)-labeled strand of the vWA amplicon. This reannealing occurs in the capillary post-electrokinetic injection. The split peak is eliminated by incorporation into the loading cocktail of a sacrificial hybridization sequence (SHS) oligonucleotide that is complementary to the vWA primer. The SHS preferentially anneals to the primer instead of the TMR-labeled strand of the vWA amplicon. In addition, the n − 10/n − 18 artifact that may be seen at the vWA locus was determined to be due to double-stranded amplicon formed post-electrokinetic injection into the capillary. This was also eliminated by adding in two Complementary Oligo Targets (COT1 and COT2) in addition to the SHS oligonucleotide into the loading cocktail. These three oligonucleotides are complementary to the 33 bases at the 5′-end of the unlabeled vWA amplicon strand and the 60 bases at its 3′-end and therefore compete for hybridization to the TMR-labeled amplicon strand. Incorporation of these three oligonucleotides in the Internal Lane Standard 600 (ILS600) eliminate both the split peak and n − 10/n − 18 artifact in PowerPlex^® 16 and PowerPlex^® ES amplification products without affecting sizing of alleles at the vWA locus or any locus in the PowerPlex^® 16, PowerPlex^® Y, PowerPlex^® ES, AmpFlSTR^® Profiler Plus^® ID, AmpFlSTR^® Cofiler^®, and AmpFlSTR^® SGM Plus^® kits.     

中国南方汉族人群4个STR基因座遗传多态性

短串联重复序列（STR）遗传标记在个体识别和亲权鉴定中应用十分广泛。但一些特殊案件需要在某一商品试剂盒检验的基础上增加检测的基因座数量。目前，国内较多鉴定机构使用GenePrint Fluorescent STR Systems FFFL Multiplex试剂盒作为补充基因座，本文对这4个基因座遗传多态性进行调查。     

16 STR data of a Greek population

Allele frequencies for 16 STR loci (D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818, FGA, and SE33) were calculated for a sample of 300 unrelated individuals from Greece. No deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium were observed for all loci. The combined power of discrimination (PD) and the combined power of exclusion (PE) for the 16 tested STR loci were 0.999999999 and 0.999999816, respectively. Population comparisons were carried out and low genetic distances were found between our data and those previously published for other neighbouring European populations.