Immunohistochemical detection of interstitial collagens in bone and cartilage tissue remnants in an infant Peruvian mummy

We investigated the immunohistochemical presence of various collagen types in bone and cartilage tissue from an infant Peruvian mummy dating between 500 and 1000 A. D. which had been excavated at the necropolis of Las Trancas in the Nazca region in Peru. Following careful rehydration and decalcification of the tissue, the mummy tissue showed morphologically good preservation of the matrix, which could be shown to be composed of various collagen types in a typical pattern. Bone consisted of a collagen I matrix with a small rim of collagen III and V at the endosteal lining and a pericellular collagen V staining around osteocytic holes. In the hypertrophic cartilage of the epiphyseal growth plate, a typical pattern of collagen types II and X could be found. These observations provide evidence that in well-preserved mummy tissue the antigenic determinants of major matrix components are still adequately preserved for an immunohistochemical analysis. This technique may thus be a very helpful tool for the analysis of pathologic processes of historic bone tissue. It may also allow in certain circumstances a distinction between pseudopathologic tissue destruction and pathologic tissue alteration. (c) 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Biology · Bone decalcification · Bone matrix · Bone tissue · Cartilage · Immunohistochemistry · Matrix (chemical analysis) · Pathology · Staining · Anatomy · Chemistry · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Genital Health and Disease · Medicine · Paleopathology and ancient diseases

• Possible Evidence for Homicide in an Egyptian Mummy Head

  Open Access•Franz Parsche, P Betz et al.•International Journal of…•1996

  Incluir item

• Ultramicroscopic investigation of the preservation status of hair collected from a full‐term, intrauterine baby mummy of the Joseon Dynasty, Korea

  Open Access•B S Chang, Byungsoo Chang et al.•International Journal of…•2008

  Incluir item

• Metastatic Prostate Carcinoma in an Early 18th-Century South German Abbot—Interdisciplinary Research Reveals Clues to His Final Disease History

  Open Access•Michael Nerlich, Stephanie Panzer et al.•Heritage•2024

  Incluir item

• Atomic Force Microscopy for High Resolution Imaging of Collagen Fibrils—A New Technique to Investigate Collagen Structure in Historic Bone Tissues

  Open Access•Stefan Thalhammer, Wolfgang M Heckl et al.•Journal of Archaeological Science•2001

  Incluir item

• Mummies

  Open Access•Niels Lynnerup•American Journal of Physical…•2007

  Incluir item

• Molecular identification of human tuberculosis in recent and historic bone tissue samples

  Open Access•Albert Zink, Albert R Zink et al.•American Journal of Physical…•2005

  Incluir item

• Bericht über archäologische Feldarbeiten in perú

  Heinrich Ubbelohde Doering•Ethnos•1958

  Incluir item