Isolation and Analysis of Proteoglycans and Glycosaminoglycans from Archaeological Bones and Teeth.

We have developed methods for isolating proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans from archaeological bones and teeth. These methods have been previously published (Coulson- Thomas et al., 2015 ) and are described here in more detail. In the case of glycosaminoglycans, the method was a previously described method ( Nader et al., 1999 ) which we optimized for archeological samples.

The identification of proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans in archaeological human bones and teeth.

Bone tissue is mineralized dense connective tissue consisting mainly of a mineral component (hydroxyapatite) and an organic matrix comprised of collagens, non-collagenous proteins and proteoglycans (PGs). Extracellular matrix proteins and PGs bind tightly to hydroxyapatite which would protect these molecules from the destructive effects of temperature and chemical agents after death. DNA and proteins have been successfully extracted from archaeological skeletons from which valuable information has been obtained; however, to date neither PGs nor glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains have been studied in archaeological skeletons. PGs and GAGs play a major role in bone morphogenesis, homeostasis and degenerative bone disease. The ability to isolate and characterize PG and GAG content from archaeological skeletons would unveil valuable paleontological information. We therefore optimized methods for the extraction of both PGs and GAGs from archaeological human skeletons. PGs and GAGs were successfully extracted from both archaeological human bones and teeth, and characterized by their electrophoretic mobility in agarose gel, degradation by specific enzymes and HPLC. The GAG populations isolated were chondroitin sulfate (CS) and hyaluronic acid (HA). In addition, a CSPG was detected. The localization of CS, HA, three small leucine rich PGs (biglycan, decorin and fibromodulin) and glypican was analyzed in archaeological human bone slices. Staining patterns were different for juvenile and adult bones, whilst adolescent bones had a similar staining pattern to adult bones. The finding that significant quantities of PGs and GAGs persist in archaeological bones and teeth opens novel venues for the field of Paleontology.

DNA and bone structure preservation in medieval human skeletons.

Morphological and ultrastructural data from archaeological human bones are scarce, particularly data that have been correlated with information on the preservation of molecules such as DNA. Here we examine the bone structure of macroscopically well-preserved medieval human skeletons by transmission electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry, and the quantity and quality of DNA extracted from these skeletons. DNA technology has been increasingly used for analyzing physical evidence in archaeological forensics; however, the isolation of ancient DNA is difficult since it is highly degraded, extraction yields are low and the co-extraction of PCR inhibitors is a problem. We adapted and optimised a method that is frequently used for isolating DNA from modern samples, Chelex(®) 100 (Bio-Rad) extraction, for isolating DNA from archaeological human bones and teeth. The isolated DNA was analysed by real-time PCR using primers targeting the sex determining region on the Y chromosome (SRY) and STR typing using the AmpFlSTR(®) Identifiler PCR Amplification kit. Our results clearly show the preservation of bone matrix in medieval bones and the presence of intact osteocytes with well preserved encapsulated nuclei. In addition, we show how effective Chelex(®) 100 is for isolating ancient DNA from archaeological bones and teeth. This optimised method is suitable for STR typing using kits aimed specifically at degraded and difficult DNA templates since amplicons of up to 250bp were successfully amplified.