Project description:Identifying the type and origin of biological samples left at a crime scene is crucial in forensic investigations as it can provide important clues for crime scene reconstruction and linkages between victim/perpetrator/scene. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are considered to be more stable than mRNA due to their small size and protection by protein and have been demonstrated to be a viable tool for body fluid identification in forensic casework. To screen reliable body-fluid specific miRNAs, ten arrays were performed in five body fluids (peripheral blood, menstrual blood, saliva, semen and vaginal secretion). Two arrays were carried out for each body fluid: three samples for the first and the other two for the second (for menstrual blood, the second array detected three samples).
Project description:The nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) tenofovir has been extensively tested as a topical preventative against vaginal and rectal HIV transmission. We sought to determine how use of this product affects gene expression. We used samples from MTN-014, a study of vaginal and rectal gel application. We obtained vaginal biopsies before treatment initiation and after two weeks of daily use of tenofovir 1% gel applied rectally or vaginally. We isolated RNA from vaginal biopsies preserved with RNAlater. Gene expression was measured from all three samples (three time points) from each participant.
