Forensic Context

A study in humans demonstrated that hsa-miR-10b-5p was investigated as a candidate for semen identification, where it displayed distinctly higher expression levels in semen compared to other body fluids [Sauer et al. DOI:10.1016/j.fsigen.2016.01.018]. In a separate human study on organ tissue identification, the miR-10b-5p was also screened as a candidate for kidney tissue, displaying sufficiently different expression levels between kidney and brain, liver, and heart, though it was less distinct from skeletal muscle and skin and was consequently not selected for further validation in that experimental context [Sauer et al. DOI:10.1016/j.fsigen.2017.02.002]. A study in humans demonstrated that the miR-10b-5p shows semen specificity and high abundance in normal semen, but its expression is significantly down-regulated and dispersed in infertile semen samples, with an observed overlap in expression between normal semen and menstrual blood [Tian et al. DOI:10.1016/j.fsigen.2017.12.010]. Another human study using high-throughput sequencing identified the miR-10b-5p as a body-fluid specific miRNA that distinguishes urine and feces from six other body fluids and blood from seven other fluids, and it was part of a validated panel for body fluid identification [Seashols-Williams et al. DOI:10.1002/elps.201600258].