Abstract: Objective To develop a STR analysis method for analyzing DNA from stained tissue sections and to evaluate the capability of this protocol in forensic application. Methods Eight kinds of HE stained human tissue, for example heart, liver, lung and intestine, were collected from two autopsy cases. The genomic DNA from those tissues was extracted using a QIAgen kit. DNA quantitation was performed using the TaqMan PCR method. The concentration of DNA isolated was determined based on Ct values. Internal positive controls （IPC） were used to monitor inhibitors. DNA amplifications were performed using Identifiler PCR Amplification kit. PCR products were analyzed on 3100-Avant Genetic Analyzer. Results The concentrations of DNA obtained from all samples were greater than 1 ng/μL. PCR inhibition was not observed. However, DNA degradation, potentially due to the effect of residual formalin fixative, was observed among tissue samples stored for long periods of time. Conclusion Sufficient amounts of DNA were extracted from HE stained tissue sections. STR profiles were successfully generated. The number of genotype alleles detected decreased as sample storage time increased.

Key words: forensic genetics, paraffin embedding, STR typing, HE staining