Antibody-based sex determination of human skeletal remains
Summary: Assignment of biological sex to skeletal remains is critical in the accurate reconstruction of the past. Analysis of sex-chromosome encoded AMELX and AMELY peptides from the enamel protein amelogenin underpins a minimally destructive mass spectrometry (MS) method for sex determination of hu...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-11-01
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| Series: | iScience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S258900422302268X |
| _version_ | 1827782305426440192 |
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| author | Barry Shaw Sophie Foggin Petter Hamilton-Stanley Andy Barlow Catriona Pickard Linda Fibiger Neil Oldham Patrick Tighe Lisette M. Kootker Sarah Schrader Rob Layfield |
| author_facet | Barry Shaw Sophie Foggin Petter Hamilton-Stanley Andy Barlow Catriona Pickard Linda Fibiger Neil Oldham Patrick Tighe Lisette M. Kootker Sarah Schrader Rob Layfield |
| author_sort | Barry Shaw |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: Assignment of biological sex to skeletal remains is critical in the accurate reconstruction of the past. Analysis of sex-chromosome encoded AMELX and AMELY peptides from the enamel protein amelogenin underpins a minimally destructive mass spectrometry (MS) method for sex determination of human remains. However, access to such specialist approaches limits applicability. As a convenient alternative, we generated antibodies that distinguish human AMELX and AMELY. Purified antibodies demonstrated high selectivity and quantitative detection against synthetic peptides by ELISA. Using acid etches of enamel from post-medieval skeletons, antibody determinations corrected osteological uncertainties and matched parallel MS, and for Bronze Age samples where only enamel was preserved, also matched MS analyses. Toward improved throughput, automated stations were applied to analyze 19th-century teeth where sex of individuals was documented, confirming MS can be bypassed. Our immunological tools should underpin development of routine, economical, high-throughput methods for sex determination, potentially even in a field setting. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:31:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a40cf365d2624cc282f9ef7b820957bc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2589-0042 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:31:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | iScience |
| spelling | doaj.art-a40cf365d2624cc282f9ef7b820957bc2023-10-27T04:24:34ZengElsevieriScience2589-00422023-11-012611108191Antibody-based sex determination of human skeletal remainsBarry Shaw0Sophie Foggin1Petter Hamilton-Stanley2Andy Barlow3Catriona Pickard4Linda Fibiger5Neil Oldham6Patrick Tighe7Lisette M. Kootker8Sarah Schrader9Rob Layfield10School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UKSchool of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UKSchool of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UKSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UKSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UKSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UKSchool of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UKSchool of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UKDepartment of Earth Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the NetherlandsFaculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, the NetherlandsSchool of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; Corresponding authorSummary: Assignment of biological sex to skeletal remains is critical in the accurate reconstruction of the past. Analysis of sex-chromosome encoded AMELX and AMELY peptides from the enamel protein amelogenin underpins a minimally destructive mass spectrometry (MS) method for sex determination of human remains. However, access to such specialist approaches limits applicability. As a convenient alternative, we generated antibodies that distinguish human AMELX and AMELY. Purified antibodies demonstrated high selectivity and quantitative detection against synthetic peptides by ELISA. Using acid etches of enamel from post-medieval skeletons, antibody determinations corrected osteological uncertainties and matched parallel MS, and for Bronze Age samples where only enamel was preserved, also matched MS analyses. Toward improved throughput, automated stations were applied to analyze 19th-century teeth where sex of individuals was documented, confirming MS can be bypassed. Our immunological tools should underpin development of routine, economical, high-throughput methods for sex determination, potentially even in a field setting.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S258900422302268XImmunologyMethodology in biological sciencesPaleobiology |
| spellingShingle | Barry Shaw Sophie Foggin Petter Hamilton-Stanley Andy Barlow Catriona Pickard Linda Fibiger Neil Oldham Patrick Tighe Lisette M. Kootker Sarah Schrader Rob Layfield Antibody-based sex determination of human skeletal remains iScience Immunology Methodology in biological sciences Paleobiology |
| title | Antibody-based sex determination of human skeletal remains |
| title_full | Antibody-based sex determination of human skeletal remains |
| title_fullStr | Antibody-based sex determination of human skeletal remains |
| title_full_unstemmed | Antibody-based sex determination of human skeletal remains |
| title_short | Antibody-based sex determination of human skeletal remains |
| title_sort | antibody based sex determination of human skeletal remains |
| topic | Immunology Methodology in biological sciences Paleobiology |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S258900422302268X |
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