A group of researchers led by Professor Robert Layfield was able to isolate antibodies from a human tooth dating back to the medieval period, which is in a stable condition and can still recognize and bind to bacteria and viruses. Here, a questioner may ask: How are teeth actually able to retain antibodies properly and for long periods? Could it take hundreds of years?
At first glance, this question seems a little strange, as if it is an excerpt from a science fiction movie. How can teeth retain antibodies for hundreds of years and protect them from decomposition by microorganisms and other difficult environmental factors?
Before going into more details, it is necessary to clarify what antibodies are. They are proteins made by cells of the immune system as a natural response to infection with pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses, which are also called microorganisms. The function of antibodies is to recognize and bind to these microorganisms. In it, the cells of the immune system attack it later and get rid of it through phagocytosis.
To answer the previous question, Professor Robert Layfield explains that archaeological remains of teeth and bones can preserve proteins for very long periods, and this in itself provides wonderful opportunities to investigate biological events in human history. In the study that the professor led with researcher Barry Shaw from the University of… Nottingham, in cooperation with Professor Anisur Rahman and Dr. Thomas McDonnell from the University of London School of Medicine, published in iscience magazine, the above researchers were able to isolate antibodies from a human tooth dating back to the medieval period between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries AD. They found These antibodies are stable and can still recognize and bind to virus proteins.
Dr. Anisur Rahman commented: We have been able to test the effectiveness of these antibodies against bacteria and viruses, and it has been shown that they can identify the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever. It is possible in the future to know how these antibodies extracted from ancient archaeological samples interact with… Diseases that were widespread in the same time period, such as the plague or the so-called Black Death.
It is worth noting that this type of study may enable researchers to study how the immune response to antibodies evolved throughout history. This is one of the branches of modern science and is called palaeoproteomics. It now occupies the forefront in the field of advanced molecular research and specializes in the study of archaeological calcified tissues such as bones. And teeth.
Translated and prepared by: M.M. Sultan Karim Sultan
Media and Government Communications Division
Source:
https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(23)01652-8
