Carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur elemental and isotopic variations in mouse hair and bone collagen during short-term graded calorie restriction
Eléa Gutierrez,
Sharon Mitchell,
Catherine Hambly,
Kerry L. Sayle,
Alex von Kriegsheim,
John R. Speakman,
Kate Britton
Affiliations
Eléa Gutierrez
Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland AB39 2PN, UK; School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland AB24 2TZ, UK; AASPE “Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements”, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 75005 Paris, France; Corresponding author
Sharon Mitchell
School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland AB24 2TZ, UK
Catherine Hambly
School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland AB24 2TZ, UK
Kerry L. Sayle
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Scotland G75 0QF, UK
Alex von Kriegsheim
Edinburgh Cancer Research UK Centre, MRC Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Scotland EH4 2XR, UK
John R. Speakman
School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland AB24 2TZ, UK; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Metabolic Health, Centre for Energy Metabolism and Reproduction, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, PRC; Centre of Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Kunming, PRC; State Key Laboratory of Molecular Developmental Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, PRC; Corresponding author
Kate Britton
Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland AB39 2PN, UK; Corresponding author
Summary: This study characterized the effect of calorie restriction (CR) on elemental content and stable isotope ratio measurements of bone “collagen” and hair keratin. Adult mice on graded CR (10–40%; 84 days) showed decreased hair δ15N, δ13C, and δ34S values (significantly for δ15N) with increasing CR, alongside a significant increase in bone “collagen” δ15N values and a decrease in “collagen” δ13C values. We propose this was likely due to the intensified mobilization of endogenous proteins, as well as lipids in newly synthesized “collagen”. Elemental analysis of bone “collagen” revealed decreased carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur % content with increasing CR which is attributed to a change in the in vivo bone “collagen” structure with extent of CR. This complexity challenges the use of elemental indicators in the assessment of collagen quality in archaeological studies where nutritional stress may be a factor.
