Some Observations on the Abo Antigen Sites of the Erythrocyte Membranes of Adults and Newborn Infants

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Abstract
Summary: Horse spleen ferritin may be conjugated to human immune anti-A globulins to give a reagent that is useful in locating the sites of A antigens on the human erythrocyte. Ferritin-tagged antibodies were found to coat the outer cell wall only of adult red cells. However, in the case of erythrocytes obtained from umbilical cord blood some ferritin was seen coating the cell wall, but many of the cells showed vacuoles that were filled with these ferritin granules. Pinocytosis was seen more frequently in the antibody-treated infant cells, and accumulations of ferritin-tagged antibodies were observed within the forming vesicles. This phenomenon was not seen when ferritin was added to the cell suspensions in the absence of antibody. Some possible implications of these findings as related to ABO hemolytic disease of newborns and to the direct antiglobulin test on blood samples obtained from these cases are discussed.

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