Scientists Use Gut Bacteria To Make Universal Blood Type
Scientists from the University of British Columbia have developed a revolutionary technique to make type O blood, considered the universal type, which may make matching blood types a thing of the past.
Three-quarters of the world’s population have blood types A, B, AB, or O. The first three blood types each carry different strains of antigens and antibodies on the surface of their blood cells which provoke different immune responses, meaning patients receiving blood from an incompatible type may suffer severe reactions.
Only type O contains neutral antigens that can safely interact with the antigens of other blood types.
Now, researchers say they have managed to identify a bacterial enzyme from the human gut biome that can neutralize antigens and render their immune responses harmless.
By screening a library of gut microbiome enzymes using fluorogenic substrates that mimic the blood antigen carbohydrates, we identified a set of enzymes expressed by a particular bacterium, Flavonifractor plautii, that are able to cleave the A antigen very efficiently...Their ability to completely convert A to O of the same rhesus type at very low enzyme concentrations in whole blood will simplify their incorporation into blood transfusion practice, broadening blood supply...In the future we hope these enzymes will be widely deployed for the production of enzymatically converted universal donor blood (ECO O Type RBCs) directly after blood donation,” he added. “In addition to their use in RBC conversion we plan to test the use of these and related enzymes in the removal of antigens from other important cell surfaces and tissues. Such approaches could widen the availability of good ‘matches’ in organ and stem cell transplantations. ~ Peter Rahfeld, postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia
