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Detecting the immune system response of a 500 year-old Inca mummy
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 7, p e41244 (2012), PLoS ONE
- Publication Year :
- 2012
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2012.
-
Abstract
- Disease detection in historical samples currently relies on DNA extraction and amplification, or immunoassays. These techniques only establish pathogen presence rather than active disease. We report the first use of shotgun proteomics to detect the protein expression profile of buccal swabs and cloth samples from two 500-year-old Andean mummies. The profile of one of the mummies is consistent with immune system response to severe pulmonary bacterial infection at the time of death. Presence of a probably pathogenic Mycobacterium sp. in one buccal swab was confirmed by DNA amplification, sequencing, and phylogenetic analyses. Our study provides positive evidence of active pathogenic infection in an ancient sample for the first time. The protocol introduced here is less susceptible to contamination than DNA-based or immunoassay-based studies. In scarce forensic samples, shotgun proteomics narrows the range of pathogens to detect using DNA assays, reducing cost. This analytical technique can be broadly applied for detecting infection in ancient samples to answer questions on the historical ecology of specific pathogens, as well as in medico-legal cases when active pathogenic infection is suspected.
- Subjects :
- Male
Proteomics
Bacterial Diseases
Buccal swab
lcsh:Medicine
Social and Behavioral Sciences
law.invention
0302 clinical medicine
law
lcsh:Science
Pathogen
Polymerase chain reaction
0303 health sciences
Multidisciplinary
biology
medicine.diagnostic_test
3. Good health
Bacterial Pathogens
Biological Anthropology
Infectious Diseases
Medicine
Female
Physical Anthropology
Research Article
Micropaleontology
Vertebrate Paleontology
Microbiology
Mycobacterium
03 medical and health sciences
medicine
Humans
Shotgun proteomics
Biology
Microbial Pathogens
030304 developmental biology
Mycobacterium Infections
Evolutionary Biology
Indians, South American
lcsh:R
Paleontology
Mummies
Immunologic Subspecialties
biology.organism_classification
DNA extraction
Virology
Immunoassay
Anthropology
Immunology
Clinical Immunology
lcsh:Q
Pulmonary Immunology
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Protein Abundance
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 7
- Issue :
- 7
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....82ff84952b96cff20cba8f8055334486