Sex-specific fluorescent labelling of cells for laser microdissection and DNA profiling

Sex-specific isolation of cells from mixtures would greatly facilitate forensic casework. Thus, male and female cell mixtures were marked with a fluorescent X/Y-probe CEP X SpectrumOrange/Y SpectrumGreen DNA probe kit for fluorescence in situ hybridization, and single cells were isolated via laser microdissection (LMD). DNA profiling of LMD isolated, hybridized cells showed usable short tandem repeat profiles for at least 20 cells, which are comparable with results from other studies. To simulate casework samples, the method was also optimized for air-dried samples.