An international team of researchers has come up with a feasible way of making universal red blood cells from any blood type. It is hoped that it might relieve blood bank shortages.
The study is published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.
Enzymatic removal of blood group ABO antigens to develop universal red blood cells (RBCs) was a pioneering vision originally proposed more than 25 years ago.
Although the feasibility of this approach was demonstrated in clinical trials for group B RBCs, a major obstacle in translating this technology to clinical practice has been the lack of efficient glycosidase enzymes.
Here researchers report two bacterial glycosidase gene families that provide enzymes capable of efficient removal of A and B antigens at neutral pH with low consumption of recombinant enzymes. The crystal structure of a member of the alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase family reveals an unusual catalytic mechanism involving NAD+. The enzymatic conversion processes researchers describe hold promise for achieving the goal of producing universal RBCs, which would improve the blood supply while enhancing the safety of clinical transfusions.
In the new study, a team of scientists led by Professor Henrik Clausen from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, found a more abundant source of glycosidase enzymes in bacteria. They found two bacterial glycosidase gene families with enzymes that efficiently remove A and B antigens from red blood cells (RBCs).
Prof Clausen and colleagues conclude that “The enzymatic conversion processes we describe hold promise for achieving the goal of producing universal RBCs, which would improve the blood supply while enhancing the safety of clinical transfusions”.
“Bacterial glycosidases for the production of universal red blood cells.”
Qiyong P Liu, Gerlind Sulzenbacher, Huaiping Yuan, Eric P Bennett, Greg Pietz, Kristen Saunders, Jean Spence, Edward Nudelman, Steven B Levery, Thayer White, John M Neveu, William S Lane, Yves Bourne, Martin L Olsson, Bernard Henrissat & Henrik Clausen.