DNA甲基化检测方法及其法医学应用研究进展

DNA甲基化是表观遗传标记的重要组成部分,参与基因表达的调控,在生物发育、衰老以及肿瘤学等领域受到广泛关注。由于具有相对稳定性、可遗传、含量丰富、随龄变化等特点,在法医学领域,DNA甲基化可以作为DNA序列相关经典遗传标记的有效补充,用于年龄推断、组织体液来源检测、同卵双生子的鉴定等。DNA甲基化的检测方法主要有基于甲基化敏感限制性内切酶、重亚硫酸盐转化以及甲基化CpG结合蛋白等原理而建立的一系列方法,近年研究表明,第三代测序技术也可用于DNA甲基化检测。本文就DNA甲基化检测方法及在法医学领域的应用研究进行回顾与综述,以期为法医学实践提供参考。

Research Progress on the Detection Method of DNA Methylation and Its Applica-tion in Forensic Science

A s an im portant part of epigenetic m arker, D N A m ethylation involves in the gene regulation and attracts a w ide spread attention in biological auxology, geratology and oncology fields. In forensic science, because of the relative stable, heritable, abundant, and age-related characteristics, D N A m ethyla-tion is considered to be a useful com plem ent to the classic genetic m arkers for age-prediction, tissue-identification, and m onozygotic tw ins' discrim ination. V arious m ethods for D N A m ethylation detection have been validated based on m ethylation sensitive restriction endonuclease, bisulfite m odification and m ethylation-C pG binding protein. In recent years, it is reported that the third generation sequencing m ethod can be used to detect D N A m ethylation. T his paper aim s to m ake a review on the detection m ethod of D N A m ethylation and its applications in forensic science.