Storage conditions differentially alter the human tooth enamel proteome

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Proteomics
• Dental Research

Background:

• Human teeth, particularly dental enamel, serve as valuable historical records of health and disease due to their mineralization process.
• Understanding how storage conditions impact the preservation of biological information within enamel is crucial for accurate analysis.
• Dental enamel preserves biological information through mineralization, creating a fossil-like record.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of different storage conditions on the enamel proteome.
• To compare the efficacy of common dental research storage protocols for preserving enamel proteins.

Main Methods:

• Human third molars were collected and stored for 4 months under four conditions: -80°C, 70% ethanol (EtOH) at room temperature (RT), air-dried (Air) at RT, and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) with sodium azide at RT.
• Mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis was performed on the stored enamel samples.

Main Results:

• Proteomic analysis identified a significant number of proteins across all storage conditions, with -80°C and 70% EtOH yielding the highest counts (454 and 460 proteins, respectively).
• Key enamel-specific proteins were detected in all groups, but their relative abundances varied based on storage method.
• The preservation of specific protein families differed across the tested storage conditions.

Conclusions:

• Storage in 70% ethanol at room temperature offers a practical and effective alternative to -80°C for preserving the enamel proteome.
• Standardized storage protocols are essential to minimize bias in protein detection and ensure comparability of enamel proteomics data across studies.
• Findings highlight the importance of selecting appropriate storage methods for reliable dental enamel research.