Paleoproteomics contribution to differential diagnosis of human bone remains

RICARDO NEME TAUIL; VIVIAN SCHEINSOHN; DENISE EVANS; PAULA MIRANDA; SILVIA MORENO; FABIAN CRESPO

Congreso; 90TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGISTS; 2021

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGISTS

Differential diagnosis in archaeological humanbones is problematic since diseases haveoverlapping macroscopic manifestations. Inthis paper, we explore if paleoproteomics caninform about the presence and distribution ofcertain proteins in bones and its correlation withdifferent pathological and metabolic states.Using a minimum invasive protocol we collectedsamples and conducted a proteomic study on2 human bones from Cueva de Plaza (CDP) site(Patagonia, Argentina) and another bone from amodern collection: a phalanx with macroscopicosteological alterations (sampling the affectedand unaffected areas) from CDP, another phalanxof a subactual individual from an osteologicalreference collection with no visible lesions, and alast 􀜪fth metatarsal from another individual of thesame archaeological site. For higher protein yieldwe explored alternative protocols before runningthe samples in a nHPLC-ESI-Orbitrap mass spectrometer.Data required meticulous interpretationwith modi􀜪ed criteria from the classical shotgunexperiments. We have obtained proteins in allsamples, most of them related to the analyzedtissue (collagens, 􀜪bronectin, cartilage, bone,muscle, and blood proteins) and, to a lesser extent,proteins associated with in􀜫ammatory responsesand other metabolic pathways. Our preliminaryanalysis con􀜪rms the power of proteomics andbioinformatics protocols to inform paleopathologyand help on the differential diagnosis ofhuman bone remains.