Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42341758›Full record

ArticleCell2026

Proteomic analysis of dental enamel from 20 Homo naledi individuals shows no male markers.

Palesa P Madupe, Alberto J Taurozzi, Claire Koenig, Ioannis Patramanis, Fazeelah Munir, Marc R Dickinson, Meaghan Mackie, Gaudry Troché, Glendon Parker, Pelagia Kyriakidou and 11 more

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Article in Cell, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

21 authors.

Palesa P MadupeGlobe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark; Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic address: palesa.madupe@palaeoproteomics.org.
Alberto J TaurozziGlobe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark.
Claire KoenigNovo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen N, Denmark.
Ioannis PatramanisGlobe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark.
Fazeelah MunirDepartment of Chemistry, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK.
Marc R DickinsonDepartment of Chemistry, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK.
Meaghan MackieGlobe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark; Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen N, Denmark.
Gaudry TrochéGlobe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark.
Glendon ParkerDepartment of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Pelagia KyriakidouComputational Systems Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, 82152 Martinsried, Germany.
Patrick MahoneySkeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Kent, UK; School of Natural Sciences, University of Kent, Kent, UK.
Gina McFarlaneSkeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Kent, UK.
Bernhard ZipfelEvolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Jürgen CoxComputational Systems Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, 82152 Martinsried, Germany.
Kirsty PenkmanDepartment of Chemistry, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK.
Lauren SchroederHuman Evolution Research Institute (HERI), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Toronto, Canada.
Rebecca R AckermannHuman Evolution Research Institute (HERI), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Jesper V OlsenNovo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen N, Denmark.
John HawksDepartment of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA; Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Lee BergerCentre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; The National Geographic Society, 1145 17th Street NW, Washington, D.C., USA; The Carnegie Institution for Science, 5251 Broad Branch Rd NW, Washington, D.C., USA. Electronic address: lrberger@ngs.org.
Enrico CappelliniGlobe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark. Electronic address: ecappellini@sund.ku.dk.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The Rising Star cave system excavations resulted in a high number of well-preserved skeletal specimens from multiple individuals of Homo naledi, showing a high degree of morphological homogeneity, including dental variation possibly consistent with a single-sex sample. Here, we report the paleoproteomic analysis of dental enamel proteins extracted via micro-destructive acid etching from 23 H. naledi specimens belonging to a minimum of 20 individuals. After excluding the possibility of technical bias, no convincing evidence supporting the confident identification of male individuals was detected in any of the investigated samples. We also detect no variability in the recovered proteome, and we observe two amino acid substitutions: a derived one in amelogenin X compared with Homo, and an ancestral one in COL17A1, also present in Paranthropus robustus. Our results further support the homogeneity of H. naledi fossils and show how to sustainably investigate extinct hominins.

Indexed as

Dental EnamelHominidaeProteomeAmelogeninAmino Acid SequenceAnimalsBiomarkersFemaleFossilsHumansMaleProteomicsSouth AfricaAmelogeninBiomarkersProteomeacid etchingamelogeninpaleoproteomicsRising Star cave systemsex attributionsex biasSouth Africa

Identifiers

PMID42341758
PMCPMC13374511

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.