Ancient proteomic analysis has been shown to have several advantages over ancient DNA studies, largely due to the ability of many proteins to survive over longer periods of time than their corresponding genes. High-resolution mass spectrometry allows for large scale data to be generated from small amounts of sample. Typically, sampling of bioarchaeological material for proteomics has involved the use of invasive tools such as drills and hammers, which presents an issue when working with museums and other heritage organisations. There exist a few studies in the published literature on the use of minimally invasive techniques including specifically manufactured sampling tapes for the minimally invasive analysis of paintings and frescoes, and recently an example of their application to mummified skin.

Here we present the development of a novel minimally invasive sample preparation technique for application in the mass spectrometric analysis of bioarchaeological materials. The extraction protocol was developed by applying commercially available, dermatology grade skin sampling strips to modern skin surfaces as a surrogate, and then applied to cranial and bone fragments belonging to a 26th Dynasty Egyptian mummified individual from the coffin of a woman named Mer-Neith-it-es. Extracted proteins were subjected to electrophoretic separation and proteolytic digestion, resulting in peptides that were separated, fragmented and identified using nanoflow liquid chromatography - high resolution tandem mass spectrometry. We have identified a number of ancient intracellular proteins on the surfaces of the various cranial and bone fragments, without causing any significant damage to these valuable remains.

与古代 DNA 研究相比，古代蛋白质组学分析已被证明具有几个优势，这主要是由于许多蛋白质比其相应基因能够存活更长的时间。高分辨率质谱允许从少量样品中生成大规模数据。通常，用于蛋白质组学的生物考古材料采样涉及使用钻头和锤子等侵入性工具，这在与博物馆和其他遗产组织合作时会出现问题。在已发表的文献中存在一些关于使用微创技术的研究，包括专门制造的用于对绘画和壁画进行微创分析的采样带，最近还有一个将它们应用于木乃伊皮肤的例子。

在这里，我们介绍了一种用于生物考古材料质谱分析的新型微创样品制备技术的发展。提取方案是通过将市售的皮肤病学级皮肤采样条作为替代物应用于现代皮肤表面，然后应用于属于第 26 王朝埃及木乃伊的颅骨和骨骼碎片，该个体来自一位名叫 Mer-Neith- 的妇女的棺材-它是。将提取的蛋白质进行电泳分离和蛋白水解消化，产生肽，使用纳流液相色谱 - 高分辨率串联质谱法分离、片段化和鉴定。我们已经在各种颅骨和骨骼碎片的表面发现了许多古老的细胞内蛋白质，