EXPRESSION OF THE ERYTHROCYTE ANTIGEN HENSHAW (HE MNS6) - SEROLOGICALAND IMMUNOCHEMICAL STUDIES

Production of murine monoclonal antibodies to the low prevalence MNS a ntigen Henshaw (He; MNS6) has enabled more detailed study of this anti gen. Using these directly hemagglutinating anti-He, red blood cells (R BCs) from 1695 people of African origin were screened in the USA and E ngland. The prevalence of He+ samples among these donors was 2.1%. In Natal, blood samples from 1218 black donors were screened with rabbit anti-He. The prevalence of He+ donors in this population was 7.0%. Imm unoblotting confirmed that the He antigen is carried on an erythrocyte membrane component with a molecular mass that is indistinguishable fr om glycophorin B. Hemagglutination and immunoblotting demonstrated tha t ten of 56 He+ samples tested more extensively had a reduced expressi on of the He antigen. The majority of He+ RBCs were Ss; those He+ RBC samples that were S-s+ more frequently had a weakened expression of He .