The CDe Rhesus Gene Complex; Some Considerations Revealed by a Study of a Danish Family with an Antigen of the Rhesus Gene Complex (C) D (e) Defined by a ‘New’ Antibody

Abstract

A serum containing anti-C^w+ Wr^a reacted with a donor sample of Rh phenotype CCDee shown to be negative for both Cw and Wra. The donor’s mother had a weakly expressed C antigen and the ‘new’ antibody was found to be reacting with a gene complex (C)D(e) previously found in Swedish families. A comparison was made of serological reactions of variant CDe complexes.

Observations on the Number of Available C Antigen Sites on Red Cells

“…This particular anti-C preparation might serologically be described as anti-Ce + C + O + CE (anti-Rh 7, 8, 9, 22) with re activity with the Cdes gene complex; but the relative uniformity of the values of the equi librium constants suggests that the range of reactivity of this particular anti-C was wide and covered all classes of C as de scribed by Giles and Skov [2] and so failed to demonstrate any difference in the tertiary structure of the C antigen in the different gene complexes tested.…”

“…Some (C)D(e) of the Swedish type have enhanced D; others have not [2]. The demonstration of an ad ditional Rh specificity on the cells without enhanced D [2] demonstrable by reactivity with serum 1114 and recognized as Rh 35 [8] is relevant in this context. Thus the sum mation of estimates of sites corresponding to 6 Rh specificities is probably an over simplification.…”

“…CWD-and cD-have enhanced D but (C)DIV-has not [8]. Some (C)D(e) of the Swedish type have enhanced D; others have not [2]. The demonstration of an ad ditional Rh specificity on the cells without enhanced D [2] demonstrable by reactivity with serum 1114 and recognized as Rh 35 [8] is relevant in this context.…”

Some Notes on the Concept of Cross-Reactivity

“…Such experimental findings 'predicted' by the new conceptual framework have frequently been demonstrated, e.g. in studies of the Ag [2,3] and Rh systems [1,11] as well as in phylogenetic studies [9,10], The new concept also predicts that conventional (operational) cross-reactivity on the reagent level is not a quantitatively continuous phenomenon, but is instead characterized by fairly few steps or levels with regular intervals between these levels which are relative to the individual reagent and/or samples studied.…”

MAR, a Novel High-Incidence Rh Antigen Revealing the Existence of an Allelic Sub-System Including C^w (Rh8) and C^x (Rh9) with Exceptional Distribution in the Finnish Population

“…Both C" and Cx are known to cause modulation of the expression of the C and, more notably, e antigen produced by the respective alleles in the cis alignment [10]. This is evident in some depression of C and e antigens in suitable phenotypes.…”