COMPARATIVE IMMUNOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF WR(A) AND WR(B) RED-CELL ANTIGENS

This paper describes immunoblotting and immunoprecipitation studies us ing monoclonal anti-Wr(a) and anti-Wr(b) antibodies to investigate the nature of the low-incidence blood group antigen, Wr(a) and its high-i ncidence allelic antigen Wr(b) No membrane components were identified by the immunoblotting experiments. Immunoprecipitation studies confirm ed that the Wr(b) antigen involves both glycophorin A and band 3. The monoclonal anti-Wr(a), BGU1-WR, failed to immunoprecipitate these or a ny other red cell membrane component. The significance of these findin gs is discussed.