Wound age estimation

One of the most common and important questions in forensic death investigations is the time when injuries have been sustained. A deceased subject, either a victim of homicide, suicide or a fatal accident, may have died immediately, or several minutes, hours or even a day or more, after the injuries were sustained. We evaluating certain immunohistochemistry markers in terms of their capacity to predict the post-infliction time interval. We are also taking advantage of the proximity ligation assay technique, using combinations of antibodies to proteins that are assumed to interact in different time phases after a vessel injury. Further, RNA expression will be analyzed in samples from the same wounds. Different non-invasive sample techniques and methodological protocols that may allow for analysis of both mRNAs and protein interactions in wounds of living subjects will also be evaluated.

PI: Henrik Druid, henrik.druid@ki.se