Rapid amelogenin sex estimation of human and cattle remains using
untargeted Evosep-timsTOF mass spectrometry
Abstract
Rationale: Sex estimation by analysis of amelogenin peptides in
archaeological and fossil material has recently been gaining great
traction within the fields of archaeology and palaeontology. Current
widely used proteomic amelogenin sex estimation methods are hindered by
relatively long mass spectrometric run times, or targeting peptides
specific to human amelogenin proteins. Untargeted, high-throughput
amelogenin sexing would be invaluable for a range of applications, from
sex estimation of remains at mass grave sites to broadening the
application of rapid amelogenin sexing to non-hominin species for
husbandry and evolutionary studies. Methods: A new acid etch
amelogenin analysis protocol followed by Evosep-LC-TIMS-TOF mass
spectrometry is presented, providing global peptide data through rapid
mass spectrometric methods in under 20 minutes per sample (including
sample preparation, mass spectrometric acquisition and data processing).
Furthermore, this method is applied to a preliminary study of both
modern and archaeological Bos taurus remains, alongside
archaeological human remains, showing the potential of straightforward
application of this rapid amelogenin sexing method to a range of taxa.
Results: Application of the developed Evosep-LC-TIMS-TOF mass
spectrometry shows the novel acid etch approach improved peptide counts.
Furthermore, rapid untargeted mass spectrometry using the
Evosep-LC-TIMS-TOF gave comparable peptide counts to conventional long
untargeted methods, while maintaining similar, or faster, acquisition
times to those reported in methods targeting specific human amelogenin
peptides. Conclusions: Rapid, untargeted Evosep-LC-TIMS-TOF
mass spectrometry was successfully implemented in sex estimation of
modern and archaeological material from Bos taurus and human
teeth. This demonstrates an advancement in low-cost, high-throughput
amelogenin sex estimation, for both human and zooarchaeological
applications.