"Currently, organs from deceased donors can be transplanted into people only if they have a compatible blood type. This is because the recipient's immune system can produce antibodies to attack and destroy the donated organ if the donor and recipient have different antigens, which come in two types: A and B. Organs that are blood type O do not have A or B antigens, so anyone can receive them."
"Researchers from Canada and China used an enzyme to remove type-A antigens from a donor kidney. The enzyme converts type-A blood into type-O, says study author Stephen Withers, a chemist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The type-O kidney was then transplanted into a 68-year-old brain-dead man in Chongqing, China. The organ remained healthy for two days before showing signs of rejection. It produced urine for six days."
"The enzyme was first identified in 2019 by some members of the same team. In 2022, they showed that a type-A lung could be converted into a type-O one, although the organ wasn't transplanted into a person. The results are groundbreaking, says Natasha Rogers, a transplant clinician at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, Australia. They could improve access to donor organs and reduce transplant wait lists."
Researchers used an enzyme to remove type-A antigens from a donor kidney, converting its blood type to type O. The converted type-O kidney was transplanted into a 68-year-old brain-dead man in Chongqing, China. The organ produced urine for six days and remained healthy for two days before showing signs of rejection. The enzyme was first identified in 2019 by members of the research team, and the team previously converted a type-A lung to type O in 2022, though that lung was not transplanted. Removing blood-type antigens from organs removes ABO compatibility as a barrier and can expand the donor pool and reduce transplant wait lists.
Read at www.nature.com
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