Bold blood moves: Students develop a device capable of ‘manufacturing’ universal donors

They call it doing a “red blood cell haircut.” The 12 students from the iGEM ULaval team have developed an enzymatic device to remove A and B antigens from the surface of red blood cells, in order to make them compatible with all recipients. Their project, called Blood Cell Barber Shop, “consists of producing enzymes specific to the A, B and O antigens—groups of sugars which will be added to red blood cells. We will cut some of the exposed branches of the red blood cell with the GH110b glycosylase enzymes, so that we find the O antigens,” explained doctoral student Benjamin Ouellet.The main challenge was to keep from leaving processing residue on the red blood cells, in order to avoid the presence of bacterial proteins, even non-reactive, in the final product. The students considered an integrative device, a sort of filter, said Ouellet. “The blood passes through it in a cyclical manner, to maximize the degradation of antigens by the glycosylases present inside the tube, but also the flow and the homogeneity of the blood, which then comes out treated. The enzymes will be contained in the tube and will not be found in the final product." The blood will then continue its usual processing path to the recipient. An additional filtration treatment which “changes nothing for the donors or the recipients, and very little for the blood processing circuit,” added Eloïse Lague, another pharmacy student.To put this device to work, the students selected certain enzymes, which were then cloned in E. Coli bacteria. “We took bacteria from the human microbiota so that there would not be a human immune reaction if the project goes further,” explains Sabrina Gentil, also a doctoral student. We chose E. Coli because it is a bit like the model bacteria in research and development in the pharmaceutical industry. It is used for the production of proteins, and we therefore know how proteins are expressed in this bacteria."Providing a universal blood type in an emergencyThe Blood Cell Barber Shop has already received the Exclamation and Extracurricular Project awards at the 34th Student Life Gala, but above all the gold medal at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM), an international synthetic biology competition held in Paris. “An important part of the iGEM competition is that projects must serve the community,” explained Lague.The students turned to Héma-Québec before developing their idea to see if such a system already existed, and if it met a real need. “We know that there are not enough blood donations and not enough different types of blood. Héma-Québec was already working on the subject, but not in the way we wanted to approach it,” said Lague.This preliminary discussion allowed them to address the crucial question of performance, since Héma-Québec must meet sustained production deadlines—a problem addressed the student project actively addressed. “Our filtration system offers higher efficiency and would make it possible to better respond to crises in blood product banks,” said Ouellet.Indeed, the current criteria in Canada only allow half of the population to donate blood according to the Canadian Blood Services. There are fewer than three donations per 100 inhabitants, added Ouellet. “We also have a majority of blood type O in Canada, followed by A and B. Hence the interest in producing a quantity of universal type blood to provide it in an emergency.”The project doesn't aim to turn all available blood in to O-, but rather to ensure sufficient stock whenever needed. “There are always benefits to having different bloods, A+, A, B+, B-, for people who need recurrent blood transfusions for example,” said Ouellet. "It's better to give them the blood that is closest to theirs. But for emergency cases where we don’t have the luxury of taking the time to think about the type of blood to give to the recipient, it’s very useful.”First 3D modeling of the RhD proteinFor now, the students are focusing on the end of their school year, but they would like to be able to present their system to Héma-Québec to improve it. Until then, another aspect of this subject concerns them, noted Gentil. “We would like to attack the RhD protein, responsible for the negative or positive nature of the blood, but it is anchored in the membrane of the red blood cell, and if we cut, it could compromise the globule. We’d have to find a way to hide it.”And so, the team began work on this antigen and its effect on the immune system as part of their iGEM project, and managed to create 3D modeling of the RhD protein, “the first proposal of the complete protein complex to date."Above all, the results of their research are now open to everyone. “This is the objective of iGEM: for students to produce results, the beginnings of projects so that they participate in scientific research,” said Lange.

Bold blood moves: Students develop a device capable of ‘manufacturing’ universal donors

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