{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T14:53:46Z","timestamp":1787756026105,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,11]],"date-time":"2023-01-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1673395200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004271","name":"Sapienza University of Roma","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["AR11916B4BBEA472"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["AR11916B4BBEA472"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004271","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>One of the most challenging issues in forensic pathology is lesion vitality demonstration, particularly in cases of hanging. Over the past few years, immunohistochemistry has been applied to this field with promising results. In particular, protein and transcription factors involved in the apoptotic process have been studied as vitality markers for the ligature mark. This study represents an implementation of our previous studies on ligature mark vitality demonstration. In this study, we evaluated the FOXO3 expression in post-mortem cervical skin samples through an immunohistochemical analysis. To evaluate FOXO3 expression, anti-FOXO3 antibodies (GTX100277) were used. The study group comprised 21 cases, 8 women and 13 men, whereas the control group consisted of 13 cases of subjects who died due to other causes. Decomposition and no clear circumstantial data were exclusion criteria. We found that FOXO3 is decreased in hanging cases compared with normal skin in other causes of death (p-value &lt; 0.05). No differences were seen concerning the type of hanging material (hard or soft), type of hanging (complete or incomplete), and position of the knot. Our results suggest that FOXO3 depletion could be a valid immunohistochemical marker of ligature mark vitality.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms24021396","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,11]],"date-time":"2023-01-11T02:06:03Z","timestamp":1673402763000},"page":"1396","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["FOXO3 Depletion as a Marker of Compression-Induced Apoptosis in the Ligature Mark: An Immunohistochemical Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Aniello","family":"Maiese","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Pathology, Medical, Molecular and Critical Area, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, PI, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2664-028X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alice Chiara","family":"Manetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Pathology, Medical, Molecular and Critical Area, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, PI, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paola","family":"Santoro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic and Orthopaedic Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 336, 00161 Rome, RM, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6934-9791","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fabio","family":"Del Duca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic and Orthopaedic Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 336, 00161 Rome, RM, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alessandra","family":"De Matteis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic and Orthopaedic Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 336, 00161 Rome, RM, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Emanuela","family":"Turillazzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Pathology, Medical, Molecular and Critical Area, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, PI, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0358-7965","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paola","family":"Frati","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic and Orthopaedic Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 336, 00161 Rome, RM, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1686-3236","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vittorio","family":"Fineschi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic and Orthopaedic Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 336, 00161 Rome, RM, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Maiese, A., Manetti, A.C., Iacoponi, N., Mezzetti, E., Turillazzi, E., Di Paolo, M., La Russa, R., Frati, P., and Fineschi, V. 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