title: Proteomic analysis of a pleistocene mammoth femur reveals more than one hundred ancient bone proteins.
abstract: We used high-sensitivity, high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry to shotgun sequence ancient protein remains extracted from a 43 000 year old woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) bone preserved in the Siberian permafrost. For the first time, 126 unique protein accessions, mostly low-abundance extracellular matrix and plasma proteins, were confidently identified by solid molecular evidence. Among the best characterized was the carrier protein serum albumin, presenting two single amino acid substitutions compared to extant African ( Loxodonta africana ) and Indian ( Elephas maximus ) elephants. Strong evidence was observed of amino acid modifications due to post-mortem hydrolytic and oxidative damage. A consistent subset of this permafrost bone proteome was also identified in more recent Columbian mammoth ( Mammuthus columbi ) samples from temperate latitudes, extending the potential of the approach described beyond subpolar environments. Mass spectrometry-based ancient protein sequencing offers new perspectives for future molecular phylogenetic inference and physiological studies on samples not amenable to ancient DNA investigation. This approach therefore represents a further step into the ongoing integration of different high-throughput technologies for identification of ancient biomolecules, unleashing the field of paleoproteomics.
authors: Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen , Øster Voldgade 5-7, 1350, Copenhagen, Denmark. ecappellini@googlemail.com
authors: Enrico
authors: E
authors: Cappellini
authors: Lars J
authors: LJ
authors: Jensen
authors: Damian
authors: D
authors: Szklarczyk
authors: Aurélien
authors: A
authors: Ginolhac
authors: Rute A R
authors: RA
authors: da Fonseca
authors: Thomas W
authors: TW
authors: Stafford
authors: Steven R
authors: SR
authors: Holen
authors: Matthew J
authors: MJ
authors: Collins
authors: Ludovic
authors: L
authors: Orlando
authors: Eske
authors: E
authors: Willerslev
authors: M Thomas P
authors: MT
authors: Gilbert
authors: Jesper V
authors: JV
authors: Olsen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D004606:Elephants; D005269:Femur / Q000737:chemistry*; D005580:Fossils; D056665:Mammoths / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification; D020543:Proteome / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods*; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000737:chemistry; D012800:Siberia; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D020543:Proteome; D012709:Serum Albumin