Chinese scientists are developing a new approach to create “universal” blood: red blood cells (RBCs) that can be transfused into any patient, regardless of the patient or recipient blood group.
Blood groups are characterised by the presence (or absence) of various proteins known as antigens on the surface of RBCs, the most well-known of which form the ABO system and the Rhesus D (RhD) system. One consequence of the existence of these groups is that blood mismatching can occur when an incompatible blood group is used for transfusion. The recipient’s antibodies recognise the antigens on the donor RBCs as being foreign and attack the cells – with potentially fatal results.
Antigenic epitopes on RBCs are sheltered by polydopamine
Read the full article in Chemistry World»
Read the original journal article in Chemical Science – it’s free to access until 1st July:
Antigenic-sheltering universal red blood cells by polydopamine-based cell superficial-engineering
Ben Wang, Guangchuan Wang, Binjie Zhao, Jiajun Chen, Xueyun Zhang and Ruikang Tang
Chem. Sci., 2014, Accepted Manuscript, DOI: 10.1039/C4SC01120A, Edge Article
