Enamel peptides reveal the sex of the Late Antique 'Lovers of Modena'.

ABSTRACT: Recent work has disclosed the critical role played by enamel peptides in sex classification of old skeletal remains. In particular, protein AMELY (amelogenin isoform Y) is present in the enamel dental tissue of male individuals only, while AMELX (isoform X) can be found in both sexes. AMELY can be easily detected by LC-MS/MS in the ion extracted chromatograms of the SM_(ox)IRPPY peptide (monoisotopic [M + 2 H]⁺² mass = 440.2233 m/z). In this paper, we exploited the dimorphic features of the amelogenin protein to determine the sex of the so-called 'Lovers of Modena', two Late Antique individuals whose skeletons were intentionally buried hand-in-hand. Upon discovery, mass media had immediately assumed they were a male-female couple, even if bad preservation of the bones

SUBMITTER: Lugli F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6739468 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature