MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY-SPECIFIC IMMOBILIZATION OF ERYTHROCYTE ANTIGENS (MAIEA) - A NEW TECHNIQUE TO SELECTIVELY DETERMINE ANTIGENIC SITES ON RED-CELL MEMBRANES

A new assay, the monoclonal antibody-immobilization of erythrocyte ant igens (MAIEA) is described for the assignment of red cell antigens rec ognised by human allo-antisera, to particular membrane components of t he red cell membrane. This technique detects tri-molecular complexes f ormed by the reaction of a human antibody and a mouse antibody with a particular red cell protein. A positive reaction, in an ELISA-type det ection procedure, occurs if the epitopes recognised by the human and m ouse antibodies are present on the same membrane component but differe nt regions. The MAIEA assay has been developed to investigate blood gr oup antigens and in this report its application to the study of the Lu theran, Yt and Kell blood group systems is described. The technique ha s been used to show that the Lu(a) and Lu3 antigens are carried on the Lutheran glycoprotein, yt(a) and yt(b) on the enzyme acetylcholineste rase and K, k, Kp(a) and Kp(b) on the Kell glycoprotein.