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Development of a Protein‐based Human Identification Capability from a Single Hair
Author(s) -
Mason Katelyn E.,
Paul Phillip H.,
Chu Fanny,
Anex Deon S.,
Hart Bradley R.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.13995
Subject(s) - biology , dna , computational biology , mitochondrial dna , identification (biology) , exome sequencing , shotgun , dna sequencing , sonication , genetics , chromatography , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , gene , chemistry , botany , phenotype
Shed human hair (lacking root nuclear DNA ) frequently contributes important information to forensic investigations involving human identification. Detection of genetic variation observed in amino acid sequences of hair proteins provides a new suite of identity markers that augment microscopic hair analysis and mitochondrial DNA sequencing. In this study, a new method that completely dissolves single hairs using a combination of heat, ultrasonication, and surfactants was developed. Dissolved proteins were digested and genetically variant peptide ( GVP ) profiles were obtained for single hairs (25 mm) via high‐resolution nanoflow liquid chromatography‐based mass spectrometry and a novel exome‐driven bioinformatic approach. Overall, 6519 unique peptides were identified and a total of 57 GVP s were confirmed. Random match probabilities ranged between 2.6 × 10 −2 and 6.0 × 10 −9 . The new bioinformatic strategy and ability to analyze GVP s in forensically relevant samples sizes demonstrate applicability of this approach to distinguish individuals in forensic contexts.