When you imagine what archaeologists find during excavations of ancient human remains, we could think that in the bone – dry, silent and skeletal clues on our past. But under ideal conditions, internal organs can survive thousands of years In addition, the preservation of biological data that bones cannot reveal alone.
Now, researchers from the Nuffield Medicine Department of Oxford University have developed a revolutionary method to extract and analyze proteins from old soft tissue. This new approachpublished in Plos one, could considerably extend what we know about food, disease and daily life in the ancient world.
Proteins offer an overview of old remains
While DNA often gets the spotlight in ancient remains, proteins are just as vital and, in some respects, even more durable. They can survive for millions of years due to their stable structure, which is less subject to degradation than the DNA which code them. Most importantly, while only about 10% of human proteins are found in the bone, 75% are expressed in internal organs such as brain, heart and liver.
This means that soft tissues contain a much more detailed biological archive – if we can access it. Proteins offer an overview of evolutionary history, environmental exhibitions and diseases that do not leave brands on the skeleton. But until recently, soft tissue proteins were inaccessible due to the lack of reliable extraction methods.
Find out more: More than 300 discovered skeletons of medieval and post-medieval eras in the United Kingdom
Ancient human soft fabrics
Oxford researchers have now developed the first robust technique to recover and identify the proteins of the old human soft tissues, demonstrating their method on preserved brain samples excavated from a 19th century British cemetery.
The team tested ten different approaches to the 200 -year -old human brain tissue, which was a 200 -year -old, given in the former Blackberry Hill hospital in Bristol, formerly a Victorian workshop house and originally a prison for 18th century war captives. One in ten of the 4,500 people buried on the site had kept the cerebral fabrics.
The winning solution? Urée – Yes, the main compound of urine. He actually opened cells to release their protein content. Once extracted, the proteins were separated using liquid chromatography and identified by mass spectrometry. To further increase the results, the researchers added a step called HAPIMS (Ionic mobility spectrometry with high -field asymmetrical waves), which has improved protein detection up to 40%.
“Everything comes down to separation,” said the main researcher Thomas Morton-Hayward in a press release. “It’s a bit like pouring a Lego bucket: if you can start to distinguish between the parts by color, then the shape, then the size, etc., the best chance you have to do something significant with all this.”
With only 2.5 milligrams of brain fabric, the team has identified more than 1,200 distinct proteins, representing the largest and most diverse whole ever recovered from mousological tissues.
New window on human history
Whether muscles, stomachs or brains, preserved soft tissues can tell us more than bones could never. This includes information on neurological health. The team detected proteins linked to a healthy brain function as well as to potential disorders biomarkers such as Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis.
“The vast majority of human diseases – including psychiatric diseases and mental health disorders – leave no trace on the bone, they are therefore essentially invisible in the archaeological file,” said Morton -Hayward. “This new technique opens a window on human history that we have not looked before.”
The main author Roman Fischer added: “By allowing the recovery of protein biomarkers of the old soft tissues, this workflow allows us to study pathology beyond the skeleton, transforming our ability to understand the health of past populations.”
The potential of the method extends far beyond this study – from peat bogs to mummies and even old hormones – offering researchers an unprecedented toolbox to decode the biological life of our ancestors.
Find out more: The medieval skeleton reveals what life looked like with a handicap in the Middle Ages
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Having worked as a biomedical research assistant in laboratories in three countries, Jenny excels in translating complex scientific concepts – ranging from medical breakthroughs and pharmacological discoveries to the last nutritions – into accessible and engaging content. His interests extend to subjects such as human evolution, psychology and stories of eccentric animals. When it is not immersed in a popular scientific book, you will find it to catch waves or sail on the island of Vancouver on its longboard.
