Poster De Conférence Année : 2024

Identifying and characterizing physiological and environmental stressors in Neolithic societies: investigating stress proteins in teeth

Résumé

The Neolithic transition introduced major shifts in critical aspects of human evolution: socio-economy, culture, biology, demography, and epidemiology. Among the major modifications observed, the Neolithic agricultural revolution is associated with a change in diet and cooking practices; a decrease in human stature, robustness, and teeth dimensions; an increased population density; an overall deterioration in health conditions, including a higher prevalence of pathologies, physiological stress, and growth disturbances. However, this major toll on human health has been evaluated by non-specific indicators of stress, and it is unclear which stressors might be responsible for all the physiological and health shifts observed in Neolithic human populations. Deciduous and permanent teeth offer the possibility to evaluate stressors experienced by an individual from in-utero to childhood and adolescence. During their formation, dental tissues record both physiological and psychopathological disturbances. In particular, accentuated lines visible in microscopy can provide a detailed chronology of stress experienced. With the exception of the neonatal line indicating the moment of birth, the cause of accentuated lines cannot be specified for past individuals. In the NeoStress project, we are testing the feasibility of a new line of investigation that will allow us to detect stress proteins in teeth and, thus, identify and quantify specific stress responses at the molecular level. By combining histology, micro-CT, and proteomics workflow involving bottom-up strategy on teeth from contemporary and Neolithic individuals for which we know sex, kinship, and life history events, we are evaluating two stress proteins: heat shock protein-70 (HSP70), expressed in response to stress and particularly sensitive to physiological and external environmental stressors; and C-reactive protein (CRP), secreted in response to inflammation and infection. With this innovative approach characterizing stress proteins, the NeoStress project aims to identify specific stressors that have affected human life and health at the beginning of farming

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Dates et versions

hal-05614010 , version 1 (07-05-2026)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-05614010 , version 1

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Mona Le Luyer, Caroline Tokarski, Stéphane Rottier, Priscilla Bayle. Identifying and characterizing physiological and environmental stressors in Neolithic societies: investigating stress proteins in teeth. 16th annual conference of the Society for the Study of the Childhood in the Past, Nov 2024, Bordeaux, France. ⟨hal-05614010⟩
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