Preferred Label : Yt blood group antigen;
Type : Phenotype, molecular basis known;
Alternative titles and symbols : Cartwright antigen;
Description : The antibody defining the very common antigen Yt(a) was the cause of a cross-matching
difficulty investigated by Eaton et al. (1956). It was presumed to be the result of
previous transfusions. Among 1,051 English people, 4 negatives were found. Positives
showed 2 grades of strength of reaction; on the assumption that the weaker reactors
represented heterozygotes, an estimate of gene frequency simply by counting was possible.
Telen et al. (1990) found that the Yt (Cartwright) red cell antigen resided on an
unidentified phosphatidylinositol (PI)-linked protein. Telen and Whitsett (1992) identified
a patient with the hitherto unreported Yt(a-b-) phenotype in whom studies allowed
localization of the Yt antigens to the acetylcholinesterase molecule. Telen and Whitsett
(1992) found that binding of antibodies to several membrane proteins including CD55
(125240), CD58 (153420), and CD59 (107271) were normal, whereas 4 monoclonal antibodies
to different acetylcholinesterase epitopes reacted only weakly with Yt(a-b-) erythrocytes.
In addition, enzymatic assay of acetylcholinesterase activity of Yt(a-b-) erythrocytes
demonstrated only 15% of the normal amount of enzyme activity. The use of anti-Yt(a)
in radioimmunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated the expected 160 kD of the acetylcholinesterase
molecule from normal erythrocyte membrane proteins, but not from Yt(a-b-) erythrocytes.
Spring et al. (1992) obtained similar results. Thus, acetylcholinesterase is the PI-linked
protein that represents the Yt antigen.;
Prefixed ID : #112100;
Origin ID : 112100;
UMLS CUI : C1862189;
Automatic exact mappings (from CISMeF team)
- Genes related to phenotype
- Semantic type(s)
