Protein degradation patterns as biomarkers for post-mortem interval estimation: A comprehensive review of proteomic approaches in forensic science

Abstract

The determination of post-mortem interval (PMI) is a critical process for forensic medical-legal investigations. Proteomic techniques are gaining prominence in analysing forensic biological samples. After death, studying the proteins present in human bodies could be critical in discovering important new biomarkers that can serve as reliable indicators of various factors. A literature review is conducted on estimating PMI through protein degradation analysis using PubMed, NCBI, SCOPUS, Research Gate, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. A total of 32 studies were identified and studied. It is found that the most commonly studied tissue type is the skeleton muscle (15 studies), followed by others. The kinetics of several proteins and proteases were particularly correlated with PMI. Different proteins degrade differently after death: alpha-actinin, GAPDH, and alpha-tubulin breakdown slowly, but meta-vinculin breaks down early. Tropomyosin does not change for a long time after death, up to 10 days. Certain markers had a positive correlation with PMI, meaning that their amount increased as PMI hours increased, while other markers showed a negative correlation, suggesting that their number decreased with time. The level of several biological markers, such as SERBP1, COX7B, and SOD2, changed gradually and consistently as the PMI increased. The information gathered from this analysis provides new opportunities for precise PMI measurements in legal contexts by expanding the research area's use in human skeletal tissue.