How the ABO antigens acquire the expression on the red blood cells ?

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K10137
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 58040:Forensics medicine-related
• Research Institution: Kurume University
• Principal Investigator: Soejima Mikiko 久留米大学, 医学部, 准教授 (80279140)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 神田 芳郎 久留米大学, 医学部, 教授 (90231307)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: ABO式血液型 / 転写調節 / FUT1 / ゲノム編集 / 種間変異

Outline of Final Research Achievements

ABO antigens are histo-blood group antigens and these antigens are detected only on human and anthropoid apes, that is, ABO are not blood group antigens in other mammals. In this research project, to elucidate the mechanism of perhaps evolutionally acquired some species-specific tissue distribution pattern, we focused on the transcriptional regulation of the FUT1 that regulated the expression of the H and therefore A and B antigens in erythroid lineage. We tried to knock out an Alu element, that is one of specific repetitive sequences to human and anthropoid apes of those erythrocytes carried no ABO antigens, resided in the second one of three FUT1 promoters by CRISPR-Cas9 system in the erythroleukemia cell lines. However, we can not any Alu element knock-out clones so far.

Free Research Field

法医遺伝学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ABO式血液型は、人で最初に見いだされたメンデル遺伝形質であり、輸血医学や法医学の分野で重要な役割を果たしてきた最も代表的な血液型である。この血液型が血液（赤血球膜）に認められる動物が、実は自分たちヒトを含む一部の動物種に限られているという現象は非常に興味深く、そのメカニズムを解明することが出来れば、学術的にも社会的にも意義のある研究成果であると考える。しかしながら、今回用いた実験的なアプローチでは残念ながら解明することが出来なかった。