Extraction Protocol for Parallel Analysis of Proteins and DNA from Ancient Teeth and Dental Calculus

Dental calculus is becoming a crucial material in the
study of
past populations with increasing interest in its proteomic and genomic
content. Here, we suggest further development of a protocol for analysis
of ancient proteins and a combined approach for subsequent ancient
DNA extraction. We tested the protocol on recent teeth, and the optimized
protocol was applied to ancient tooth to limit the destruction of
calculus as it is a precious and irreplaceable source of dietary,
microbiological, and ecological information in the archeological context.
Finally, the applicability of the protocol was demonstrated on samples
of the ancient calculus.

牙结石（Dental calculus）正逐渐成为古人群研究的关键材料，学界对其蛋白质组与基因组组分的研究兴趣与日俱增。本研究提出进一步优化古代蛋白质分析实验方案，并配套开发后续古代DNA提取的联合方法。我们先以现代牙齿对该方案开展测试，随后将优化后的实验方案应用于古代牙齿样本，以尽可能降低对牙结石的破坏——因其在考古背景中是获取饮食、微生物与生态信息的珍贵且不可替代的资源。最后，本研究通过古代牙结石样本验证了该实验方案的适用性。