Vol. 46, No. 1, September 1998 BIOCHEMISTRY and MOLECULAR BIOLOGY INTERNATIONAL Pages 175-186 SEROCONVERSION OF TYPE B TO O ERYTHROCYTES USING RECOMBINANT GL YCINE MAX r Nancy C. Vosnidou*, Scott A. Johnson*, Moon Moon Mitra*, Donald C. Wells*, Chun Qin Li*, Maria L. Evans*, Michael A. Harmata ^, John C. Walker + and Daniel S. Smith*# From the Departments of Biology +, Chemistry ^, and Pathology * University of Missouri, Columbia, MO ReceivedMay 21, 1998 Summary: Recombinant r (rGal) from soybean (Glycine max) hydrolyzed the immunodominant r residue from the B epitope of red blood cells. This converted type B erythrocytes to type O which are "universally" transfusable. Type B red blood cells were obtained from four different donors and enzymatically converted. Cell function parameters, including red cell indices, pH, methemoglobin, carboxyhemoglobin, osmotic fragility, hemolysis, 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, cholinesterase, ATP, and antigen typing of treated ceils were compared to controls. These pilot studies indicate that rGal could have potential biotechnical application in the production of universally transfusable red blood cells. Key Words: Glycine max, ~-D-galactosidase, enzymatic conversion, blood type Introduction r [E.C. 3.2.1.22] are widespread in nature. In plants, the wide distribution of this enzyme may be explained by the prevalence of its substrate, saccharides rich in r residues. In some species, multiple #Correspondence Address: Daniel S. Smith, Department of Pathology, M263 Medical Sciences Building, One Hospital Drive, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212 573-882-2845 (Telephone) 573-884-4612 (Fax) 175 1039-9712/98/130175-12505.00/0 Copyright 9 1998 by Academic Press Australia. All rights of reproduction in anyform reserved.