Anti - a Anti - B Anti - a , B

Blood group antigens are structural variants in surface carbohydrate or amino acid polymorphisms on extracellular domains of membrane proteins. The red cell water channelforming integral protein (Aquaporin CHIP) is a homotetramer with only one N-glycosylated subunit, however no CHIP-associated blood group antigens have yet been identified. Immunoblotting, monosaccharide composition analysis, and selective glycosidase digestions revealed that the CHIP-associated oligosaccharide contains ABH determinants and resembles a band 3-type glycan that cannot be cleaved from intact membranes by Peptide:N-glycosidase F. The molecular structure of the Colton antigens was previously unknown, but CHIP was selectively immunoprecipitated with anti-Coa or anti-Cob. The DNA sequence from Colton-typed individuals predicted that residue 45 is alanine in the Co(a+b-) phenotype and valine in the Co(a-b+) phenotype. The nucleotide polymorphism corresponds to a PfiMI endonuclease digestion site in the DNA from Co(a-b+) individuals. These studies have defined antigens within two blood group systems on CHIP: (a) an ABHbearing polylactosaminoglycan attached to a poorly accessible site in the native membrane; and (b) the Colton antigen polymorphism which may permit the identification of rare individuals with defective water channel expression. (J. Clin. Invest. 1994. 94:1043-1049.)