Forensic Context

A review of human skin burns, wound healing, and scarring identified 197 miRNAs with altered expression, including the miR-4738-3p which was downregulated in hypertrophic scar tissue compared to normal skin [Siu et al. DOI:10.1111/wrr.13100]. In a separate human study investigating coronary artery disease, the miR-4738-3p was downregulated in whole blood of patients with recurrent myocardial infarction compared to those without, with this association remaining significant after false-discovery rate correction [Onuoha et al. DOI:10.1111/cts.13307]. A study in humans demonstrated that the miR-4738-3p was differentially expressed across two pairs of monozygotic twins, suggesting its potential role as a biomarker for distinguishing genetically identical individuals in forensic identification [Xiao et al. DOI:10.1016/j.fsigen.2019.05.003].