Time-lapse of the post-mortem proteome.

The biochemical processes that comprise cell death at the level of the whole organism have significant associations with inflammation, neoplasia’s, metabolic and developmental anomalies in the living. Greater awareness of the activation of ‘death’ pathways have particular relevance to the study of disease and could influence the findings of proteomics through the ‘deep-time’ of individuals with no historically recorded cause of death. Proteomics is able to address the interplay of all affected pathways concurrently. This study goes beyond the limits of survival to demonstrate the machinery for survival persists, and in some cases even continues to function. Here, we present a reference set of proteins detectable in the post-mortem proteome. We have used high-resolution, mass spectrometry to retrieve proteomic profiles of the mouse mandible through 720 hours of post mortem time.