PROTEIN OXIDATION OF A HAIR SAMPLE KEPT IN ALASKAN ICE FOR 800-1000 YEARS

Ancient finds of organic matter are not only of the highest value for palaeochemists and palaeobiologists but can be used to determine basic chemical reactions, such as protein oxidation, over long time periods . We studied oxidation of human hair protein about one thousand years old of an Alaskan child buried in ice, ten hair samples of copts of co mparable age buried in graves of hot dry sand and compared the results to ten recent hair samples. Protein oxidation parameters o-tyrosine a nd cysteic acid of the Alaskan child were comparable to recent samples whereas they were higher in the coptic specimen. N-epsilon-carboxymet hyllysine, a parameter for glycoxidation, however, was as high in copt ic specimen. We conclude that ice in contrast to soil prevented protei n oxidation but failed to inhibit glycoxidation, a reaction initiated by autaoxidation of glucose. This study therefore has implications far the interpretation of oxidation and glycoxidation as well as preserva tion mechanisms of proteins.