F. Roubinet et al., QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF CHIMPANZEE AND GORILLA COUNTERPARTS OF THE HUMAN D-ANTIGEN, Journal of medical primatology, 22(1), 1993, pp. 29-35
The reactivities of three human anti-D monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) wi
th human, chimpanzee, and gorilla red blood cells (RBCs) were compared
by quantitative radioimmunology and indirect immunofluorescence metho
ds. The number of antigenic sites varies widely in gorillas (from 48,0
00-283,000), while in chimpanzees this number is very close to that ob
served in human R1R2 RBCs. The affinity of the anti-D antibodies was s
lightly lower with ape RBCs than with D-positive human RBCs. In chimpa
nzee, the D-like epitopes recognition is enhanced by papain while the
gorilla D-like epitopes are destroyed by enzyme treatment.