Peptide analysis of tooth enamel – A sex estimation tool for archaeological, anthropological, or forensic research

Abstract

Proteomics has become an attractive method to study human and animal material, biological profile, and origin as an alternative to DNA analysis. It is limited by DNA amplification in ancient samples and its contamination, high cost, and limited preservation of nuclear DNA. Currently, three approaches are available to estimate sex–osteology, genomics, or proteomics, but little is known about the relative reliability of these methods in applied settings. Proteomics provides a new, seemingly simple, and relatively non‐expensive way of sex estimation without the risk of contamination. Proteins can be preserved in hard teeth tissue (enamel) for tens of thousands of years. It uses two sexually distinct forms of the protein amelogenin in tooth enamel detectable by liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry; the protein amelogenin Y isoform is present in enamel dental tissue only in males, while amelogenin isoform X can be found in both sexes. From the point of view of archaeological, anthropological, and forensic research and applications, the reduced destruction of the methods used is essential, as well as the minimum requirements for sample size.

Mass spectrometry based proteomics: Changing the impact of protein analysis in forensic science

“…When several GVPs are identified within a sample, a profile of several inferred SNP genotypes can be built and eventually be used to provide statistical probabilities of an individual matching a sample (Goecker et al, 2020). GVPs are present in any sample containing protein, and can include evidence types such as hair shafts (Goecker et al, 2020), bones (Mason et al, 2018), teeth (Mikšík et al, 2023), finger marks (Borja et al, 2019), and sexual assault evidence (Parker et al, 2021). Ongoing research is required to further develop this methodology for each of these sample types.…”

A Label-Free Quantification Method for Assessing Sex from Modern and Ancient Bovine Tooth Enamel

“…This approach has opened the door to sex identi cation of ancient remains by focusing on tooth enamel, the most resistant material in the skeleton, thereby overcoming the limitations imposed by poor bone preservation commonly encountered in aDNA and other standard sex determination methods outlined above. Not surprisingly, it has been extensively applied to sex ancient human populations including infants and ancient primates [42][43][44][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] .…”