title: Unearthing Bulgakov's trace proteome from the Master i Margarita manuscript.
abstract: Ten pages, selected from a total of 127, of the last manuscript of Master i Margarita, written by Bulgakov in the last four years of his life, have been analysed in order to harvest and identify any trace proteome left on the margin by the novelist, in the hope of finding biomarkers of his fatal nephrotic syndrome. To that aim, we prepared a special ethyl-vinyl acetate film as binder of ground AG 501 Bio-Rad mix-bed strong cation/strong anion exchange resins for adsorbing any protein left on the margins of the pages via saliva and/or sweat. After eluting, digesting and interrogating the peptides by LC-MS/MS, we could identify three proteins, periostin, N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase and nephrin, reported as biomarkers of renal pathologies. Additionally a further 29 unique gene products, of saliva and skin origin, have been identified, together with two bacterial proteins. The novel method here reported could be safely applied to any other research on manuscripts stored in public libraries and repositories of the World Cultural Heritage.
  
  
  
  The present manuscript aims at finding proteomics traces in a 75-year old manuscript in order to confirm the health state of the author. In the case of Bulgakov it was known that he died of renal disease, possibly leaving traces and/or biomarkers of this pathology on the margins of the pages analysed. Three proteins, stated to be biomarkers of nephrotic syndrome, could be identified. In order not to contaminate the manuscript pages with resin particles, we have devised a novel harvesting film, by which strong cation and anion exchangers are embedded in ethyl-vinyl acetate foils. It is felt that this technology could be safely applied to other specimens belonging to the Word Heritage.
authors.affiliation: Spectrophon Ltd, Pekeris 4, Rehovot 76702, Israel.
authors.forename: Gleb
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zilberstein
authors.affiliation: Spectrophon Ltd, Pekeris 4, Rehovot 76702, Israel.
authors.forename: Uriel
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Maor
authors.affiliation: Technion, Physical Department, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Emmanuil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baskin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Food Research, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UA, UK.
authors.forename: Alfonsina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Amato
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Via Mancinelli 7, Milano 20131, Italy. Electronic address: piergiorgio.righetti@polimi.it.
authors.forename: Pier Giorgio
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Righetti
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000032:analysis; D006596:Hexosaminidases; D006801:Humans; D008373:Manuscripts as Topic; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D009404:Nephrotic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis; D010209:Paper; D020543:Proteome / Q000032:analysis*; D013672:Technology / Q000379:methods; D014753:Vinyl Compounds
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C512835:POSTN protein, human; D020543:Proteome; D014753:Vinyl Compounds; C057352:ethyl vinyl acetate; C113267:nephrin; D006596:Hexosaminidases
keywords: Biomarkers; Bulgakov's novel; Master i Margarita; Nephrotic syndrome; Strong cation and anion exchangers