Preservation of the metaproteome: variability of protein preservation in ancient dental calculus

Proteomic analysis of dental calculus is emerging as a powerful tool for disease and dietary characterisation of archaeological populations. To better understand the variability in protein results from dental calculus, we analysed 21 samples from three Roman-period populations to compare: 1) the qua...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Science and technology of archaeological research Vol. 3; no. 1; pp. 58 - 70
Main Authors:	Mackie, Meaghan, Hendy, Jessica, Lowe, Abigail D., Sperduti, Alessandra, Holst, Malin, Collins, Matthew J., Speller, Camilla F.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England Routledge 01-01-2017 Taylor & Francis Group
Subjects:	Archaeology dental calculus destructive analysis LC-MS/MS Original protein preservation shotgun proteomics Archaeology LC-MS/MS dental calculus destructive analysis protein preservation shotgun proteomics
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Summary:	Proteomic analysis of dental calculus is emerging as a powerful tool for disease and dietary characterisation of archaeological populations. To better understand the variability in protein results from dental calculus, we analysed 21 samples from three Roman-period populations to compare: 1) the quantity of extracted protein; 2) the number of mass spectral queries; and 3) the number of peptide spectral matches and protein identifications. We found little correlation between the quantity of calculus analysed and total protein identifications, as well as no systematic trends between site location and protein preservation. We identified a wide range of individual variability, which may be associated with the mechanisms of calculus formation and/or post-depositional contamination, in addition to taphonomic factors. Our results suggest dental calculus is indeed a stable, long-term reservoir of proteins as previously reported, but further systematic studies are needed to identify mechanisms associated with protein entrapment and survival in dental calculus.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at doi:10.1080/20548923.2017.1361629 Now of Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; and Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
ISSN:	2054-8923 2054-8923
DOI:	10.1080/20548923.2017.1361629