Dinosaur blood?

Hi Mammuthus,
Actually I think that the evidence for the protein degradation products is pretty strong. The leg bones were capped (I believe that is the correct word for when the ends of a long bone fossilizes) maintaining the integrity of the interior portion. Also the presence of the calcium phosphate matrix has a tendency to stabilize proteins, essentially it is a hydroxyapatite matrix which is known to bind proteins, dome with a very high affinity. The protein was old enough for recemization to have occurred, a process that was probably slowed by the binding of the degradation products to the mineral matrix, check this out for a small amount of supporting data for stability.As mentioned above, there have been a number of reports concerning the preservation of osteocalcin indicated both by fragments capable of generating an immune response and the presence of remnants of the modified amino acid g-carboxyglutamic acid.One of the references is Preservation of the Bone Protein Osteocalcin in Dinosaurs Geology, Vol. 20, October 1992, pages 871-874. I will try to find a couple of the other ones that I have at home.While not much is required in the way of the linear epitopes required for the generation antibodies, the racemization actually may have increased the immunogenicity. I do not have much info in that regard, but the lack of a reaction from the surrounding tissues and samples is indicative that the results were real.

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"Chance favors the prepared mind." L. Pasteur
and my family motto
Transfixus sed non mortis
Taz

Hi Loudmouth, I actually have had a reprint of the paper since shortly after it came out. . What interests me the most is the relationship between the tissue where the degraded proteins are found and the chemistry of stabilization. I have been using hydroxyapatite for years as a purification matrix and have found that it can also be used to bind protiens and hold them in a stable form in a liquid formulation much longer than can normally be expected in a standard liquid formulation. Activity and structure are often held stable over substantial periods (substantial for a protein biologic anyway). As part of my work currently revolves around determining the stability of my biologics this was obviously of a great deal of interest to me. It was not until I read about this and other bone proteins from fossils that I started to consider other implacations, re: protein fragments from fossils.This message has been edited by Dr_Tazimus_maximus, 06-23-2004 10:46 PM

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"Chance favors the prepared mind." L. Pasteur
and my family motto
Transfixus sed non mortis
Taz