ABO Blood Groups and Galectins: Implications in Transfusion Medicine and Innate Immunity

ABO blood group antigens, which are complex carbohydrate moieties, and the first human polymorphisms identified, are critical in transfusion medicine and transplantation. Despite their discovery over a century ago, significant questions remain about the development of anti-ABO antibodies and the structural features of ABO antigens that cause hemolytic transfusion reactions. Anti-ABO antibodies develop naturally during the first few months of life, in contrast to other red blood cell (RBC) alloantibodies which form after allogeneic RBC exposure. Anti-ABO antibodies are the most common immune barrier to transfusion and transplantation, but the factors driving their formation are incompletely understood. Some studies suggest that microbes that express glycans similar in structure to the blood group antigens could play a role in anti-blood group antibody formation. While the role of these microbes in clinically relevant anti-blood group antibody formation remains to be defined, the presence of these microbes raises questions about how blood group-positive individuals protect themselves against blood group molecular mimicry. Recent studies suggest that galectins can bind and kill microbes that mimic blood group antigens, suggesting a unique host defense mechanism against microbial molecular mimicry. However, new models are needed to fully define the impact of microbes, galectins, or other factors on the development of clinically relevant naturally occurring anti-blood group antibodies.