Blood Cell Cloaking

Back in August of 2010 I wrote a post about Synthetic Blood Products and how it could change the face of saving lives through blood transfusions. Now, there isn't any new news to report on that, however, there is a new development in the process of blood cell cloaking.

Cloaking? Yes, scientists are currently researching/testing the possibilities of a universal blood supply. Coating blood cells with an immunological camouflage could one day lead to a new type of blood product that avoids the problem of A,B,O,± blood typing currently required for transfusion patients. Chemists have been hoping to make synthetic blood for many years; such a product could be useful when there are shortages of donor blood, particularly in emergency situations, natural disasters and on the battlefield. The same products might also circumvent the issue of blood type, which makes it impossible for some patients to receive blood from donors with another type. Generally, some people are universal donors, but universal recipients are rare and most people must receive cross-matched blood.

Maryam Tabrizian and Sania Mansouri of McGill University, in Montreal, together with Yahye Merhi of the Montreal Heart Institute and Francoise Winnik of the University of Montreal note that blood type matching prior to transfusion is a rather difficult proposition. There are the familiar ABO blood types with which medical staff must contend as well as the Rh (rhesus) and other factors; in total there are 29 different red blood cells types. Depending on the precise correlation between donor blood and the patient's own blood type problems can arise from simple immune reaction and shock to organ failure or death. Some blood types are rare others much more common, finding suitable donors at short notice when a rare type arises in surgery can be difficult. The issue is compounded by the high cost of blood type matching.

The chemical shell acts as a cloaking device, masking the proteins and peptides on the surface of the red blood cell that would otherwise trigger an immune response in a non-matched patient. It should be noted that oxygen can still penetrate the shell so that the red blood cells can carry on their normal function of supplying oxygen to body cells. As a patient recuperates, they produce their own new, healthy red blood cells to displace the camouflaged cells, which are ultimately broken down and excreted as waste products.

The results of this study mark an important step toward the production of universal red blood cells. While it's still years away from being used, the possibilities of ending blood supply shortages are on the distant horizon.

(Info from recent NMR Spectroscopy article)