TY - JOUR

T1 - Undertaking the biological sex assessment of human remains

T2 - The applicability of minimally-invasive methods for proteomic sex estimation from enamel peptides

AU - Brůžek, Jaroslav

AU - Mikšík, Ivan

AU - Pilmann Kotěrová, Anežka

AU - Morvan, Marine

AU - Kaupová, Sylva Drtikolová

AU - Santos, Fréderic

AU - Danielisová, Alžběta

AU - Zazvonilová, Eliška

AU - Maureille, Bruno

AU - Velemínský, Petr

N1 - Funding Information: The research was carried out with the financial support of the Laboratory of 3D Imaging and Analytical Methods, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Science of Charles University in Prague, Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (DKRVO 2019-2023/7.I.e, 00023272). This research also benefited from the scientific framework of the University of Bordeaux's Idex “Investments for the Future” program / GPR “Human Past”. The authors would like to thank Jiřina Dašková of the Palaeontology Department of the National Museum, Prague for obtaining the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. We also thank Nicolas Vanderesse and Adrien Thibaut (UMR 5199 PACEA) for help with micro-CT, tooth tissue segmentation and the generation of colour maps. Our thanks also go to Mrs. Armenuhi Kirakosjan of the Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague for her help with the proteomic analysis, and Alastair Millar for linguistic revision of the text. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR)

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Being a part of the cultural heritage, skeletal human remains and grave objects are often the only evidence of people who lived many years, or even centuries or millennia, ago, and their preservation for future generations is thus of the utmost importance. The first task in analyzing skeletal remains is to build a biological profile of the individual, including in particular a sex estimation. Recently developed proteomic sex analysis, based on the detection of two sex-dependent forms of the amelogenin protein in tooth enamel, could offer a minimally-invasive and reliable approach applicable to both recent and past populations. The aims of the present study are: 1) to validate the proteomic sex estimation approach with a delicate, minimally-destructive protocol using protein etching in recent and sub-recent identified samples of adult individuals; 2) for the first time, to evaluate the invasiveness of the extraction of amelogenin protein from teeth for proteomic analysis via scanning electron microscope (SEM) and microcomputed tomography (micro-CT); 3) to apply the method to an archaeological sample of unknown adult and juvenile individuals. An assemblage of 60 teeth (32 males and 28 females) of recent and sub-recent origin was used to validate the approach. A sub-sample of 20 teeth (10 males and 10 females) was used to assess the invasiveness of the amelogenin extraction procedure. For the application of the method, samples of 15 adult and 32 juvenile teeth, both originating from medieval populations, were used. Proteomic sex estimation achieved 100% accuracy in this sample. An SEM and micro-CT comparison of the dental surfaces before and after chemical treatment showed an approximately 10% loss of enamel and only 2% loss of dentine. The suitability and minimally-invasive character of the protocol for proteomic analysis in biological sex estimation was demonstrated, as was its applicability to archaeological samples.

AB - Being a part of the cultural heritage, skeletal human remains and grave objects are often the only evidence of people who lived many years, or even centuries or millennia, ago, and their preservation for future generations is thus of the utmost importance. The first task in analyzing skeletal remains is to build a biological profile of the individual, including in particular a sex estimation. Recently developed proteomic sex analysis, based on the detection of two sex-dependent forms of the amelogenin protein in tooth enamel, could offer a minimally-invasive and reliable approach applicable to both recent and past populations. The aims of the present study are: 1) to validate the proteomic sex estimation approach with a delicate, minimally-destructive protocol using protein etching in recent and sub-recent identified samples of adult individuals; 2) for the first time, to evaluate the invasiveness of the extraction of amelogenin protein from teeth for proteomic analysis via scanning electron microscope (SEM) and microcomputed tomography (micro-CT); 3) to apply the method to an archaeological sample of unknown adult and juvenile individuals. An assemblage of 60 teeth (32 males and 28 females) of recent and sub-recent origin was used to validate the approach. A sub-sample of 20 teeth (10 males and 10 females) was used to assess the invasiveness of the amelogenin extraction procedure. For the application of the method, samples of 15 adult and 32 juvenile teeth, both originating from medieval populations, were used. Proteomic sex estimation achieved 100% accuracy in this sample. An SEM and micro-CT comparison of the dental surfaces before and after chemical treatment showed an approximately 10% loss of enamel and only 2% loss of dentine. The suitability and minimally-invasive character of the protocol for proteomic analysis in biological sex estimation was demonstrated, as was its applicability to archaeological samples.

KW - Cultural heritage

KW - Human skeletal collections

KW - Proteomics

KW - Sampling

KW - Sex estimation

U2 - 10.1016/j.culher.2023.11.021

DO - 10.1016/j.culher.2023.11.021

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85179078661

VL - 66

SP - 204

EP - 214

JO - Journal of Cultural Heritage

JF - Journal of Cultural Heritage

SN - 1296-2074

ER -