title: Paleoproteomic study of the Iceman's brain tissue.
abstract: The Tyrolean Iceman, a Copper-age ice mummy, is one of the best-studied human individuals. While the genome of the Iceman has largely been decoded, tissue-specific proteomes have not yet been investigated. We studied the proteome of two distinct brain samples using gel-based and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based proteomics technologies together with a multiple-databases and -search algorithms-driven data-analysis approach. Thereby, we identified a total of 502 different proteins. Of these, 41 proteins are known to be highly abundant in brain tissue and 9 are even specifically expressed in the brain. Furthermore, we found 10 proteins related to blood and coagulation. An enrichment analysis revealed a significant accumulation of proteins related to stress response and wound healing. Together with atomic force microscope scans, indicating clustered blood cells, our data reopens former discussions about a possible injury of the Iceman's head near the site where the tissue samples have been extracted.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Mummies and the Iceman, EURAC research, 39100, Bolzano, Italy.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maixner
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Overath
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Linke
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Janko
authors.forename: Gea
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guerriero
authors.forename: Bart H J
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: van den Berg
authors.forename: Bjoern
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stade
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leidinger
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Backes
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jaremek
authors.forename: Benny
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kneissl
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Meder
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Franke
authors.forename: Eduard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Egarter-Vigl
authors.forename: Eckart
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meese
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tholey
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zink
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keller
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy / Q000379:methods; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D009106:Mummies; D020543:Proteome / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020543:Proteome