Evaluation of Glycosaminoglycans Biological Age in Cells and Tissues

Bomb pulse refers to the sharp increase of the atmospheric levels of the carbon isotope ¹⁴C due to nuclear testing during the late 1950s and early 1960s. After the nuclear test ban, atmospheric ¹⁴C levels decreased exponentially because of the diffusion and equilibration with the ocean and biosphere, as well as the incorporation indirectly into all living cells. Thus, assessing the anthropogenic ¹⁴C serves as an isotopic chronometer providing the opportunity to estimate the age of a tissue and its components with a relatively high precision comparing it with the atmospheric levels at a certain time stamp.This protocol describes the use of the bomb pulse dating as a retrospective tracer of tissue components such as the glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and subsequent proteoglycans turnover using accelerator mass spectrometry.