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Classification of ancient mammal individuals using dental pulp MALDI-TOF MS peptide profiling.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The classification of ancient animal corpses at the species level remains a challenging task for forensic scientists and anthropologists. Severe damage and mixed, tiny pieces originating from several skeletons may render morphological classification virtually impossible. Standard approaches are based on sequencing mitochondrial and nuclear targets. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We present a method that can accurately classify mammalian species using dental pulp and mass spectrometry peptide profiling. Our work was organized into three successive steps. First, after extracting proteins from the dental pulp collected from 37 modern individuals representing 13 mammalian species, trypsin-digested peptides were used for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis. The resulting peptide profiles accurately classified every individual at the species level in agreement with parallel cytochrome b gene sequencing gold standard. Second, using a 279-modern spectrum database, we blindly classified 33 of 37 teeth collected in 37 modern individuals (89.1%). Third, we classified 10 of 18 teeth (56%) collected in 15 ancient individuals representing five mammal species including human, from five burial sites dating back 8,500 years. Further comparison with an upgraded database comprising ancient specimen profiles yielded 100% classification in ancient teeth. Peptide sequencing yield 4 and 16 different non-keratin proteins including collagen (alpha-1 type I and alpha-2 type I) in human ancient and modern dental pulp, respectively. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Mass spectrometry peptide profiling of the dental pulp is a new approach that can be added to the arsenal of species classification tools for forensics and anthropology as a complementary method to DNA sequencing. The dental pulp is a new source for collagen and other proteins for the species classification of modern and ancient mammal individuals.

SUBMITTER: Tran TN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3045434 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Classification of ancient mammal individuals using dental pulp MALDI-TOF MS peptide profiling.

Tran Thi-Nguyen-Ny TN Aboudharam Gérard G Gardeisen Armelle A Davoust Bernard B Bocquet-Appel Jean-Pierre JP Flaudrops Christophe C Belghazi Maya M Raoult Didier D Drancourt Michel M

PloS one 20110225 2

<h4>Background</h4>The classification of ancient animal corpses at the species level remains a challenging task for forensic scientists and anthropologists. Severe damage and mixed, tiny pieces originating from several skeletons may render morphological classification virtually impossible. Standard approaches are based on sequencing mitochondrial and nuclear targets.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>We present a method that can accurately classify mammalian species using dental pulp and mas ...[more]

PMID: 21364886

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Project description:MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS) on whole cells enables the detection of different cell types and cell activation. Here, we wondered whether this approach would be useful to investigate the host response in sepsis.Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with severe sepsis and healthy donors were analyzed with MALDI-TOF MS. PBMCs from healthy donors were also stimulated with lipopolysaccharide, peptidoglycan, CpG oligonucleotides, polyinosinic polycytidylic acid, and with heat-inactivated bacteria. Averaged spectra of PBMCs stimulated in vitro by different agonists were generated from the database using the Biotyper software and matching scores between each spectrum from patients and averaged spectra from the database were calculated.We show that the MALDI-TOF MS signature of PBMCs from septic patients was specific, compared with healthy controls. As the fingerprints observed in patients may be related to PBMC activation, PBMCs from healthy controls were stimulated with cytokines, soluble Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMPs) and heat-killed bacteria, and we created a database of reference spectra. The MALDI-TOF MS profiles of PBMCs from septic patients were then compared with the database. No differences were found between patients with documented infection (n?=?6) and those without bacteriological documentation (n?=?6). The spectra of PBMCs from septic patients matched with those of interferon-?- and interleukin-10-stimulated PBMCs, confirming that sepsis is characterized by both inflammatory and immunoregulatory features. Interestingly, the spectra of PBMCs from septic patients without documented infection matched with the reference spectrum of PBMCs stimulated by CpG oligonucleotides, suggesting a bacterial etiology in these patients.Despite the limits of this preliminary study, these results indicate that the monitoring of functional status of PBMCs in peripheral blood by whole cell MALDI-TOF MS could provide unique opportunities to assess disease progression or resolution in clinical settings.

Dataset Information

Classification of ancient mammal individuals using dental pulp MALDI-TOF MS peptide profiling.

Publications

Classification of ancient mammal individuals using dental pulp MALDI-TOF MS peptide profiling.

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