Production of human blood group B antigen epitope conjugated protein in Escherichia coli and utilization of the adsorption blood group B antibody

BACKGROUND: In the process of ABO-incompatible (ABOi) organ transplantation, removal of anti-A and/or B antibodies from blood plasma is a promising method to overcome hyperacute rejection and allograft loss caused by the immune response between anti-A and/or B antibodies and the A and/or B antigens in the recipient. Although there are commercial columns to do this work, the application is still limited because of the high production cost. RESULTS: In this study, the PglB glycosylation pathway from Campylobacter jejuni was exploited to produce glycoprotein conjugated with Escherichia coli O86:B7 O-antigen, which bears the blood group B antigen epitope to absorb blood group B antibody in blood. The titers of blood group B antibody were reduced to a safe level without changing the clotting function of plasma after glycoprotein absorption of B antibodies in the plasma. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a feasible strategy for the specific adsorption/removal of blood group antibodies. This method will be useful in ABOi organ transplantation and universal blood transfusion. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12934-016-0538-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.