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Immune disguise: the mechanisms of Neu5Gc inducing autoimmune and transplant rejection

Genes & Immunity volume 23, pages 175–182 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Organ (stem cell) transplantation is the most effective treatment for advanced organ failure. Neu5Gc (N-hydroxyacetylneuraminic acid) is a pathogenic non-human sialic acid, which is very similar to the molecular structure of Neu5Ac (N-acetylneuraminic acid) in human body. Neu5Gc has the function of “immune disguise”, which is the main obstacle to transplantation. Gene knockout such as cytidine monophosphate-N-acetylneuraminidase (CMAH) reduces donor antigenicity, making xenotransplantation from fiction to reality. Exploring the immune disguise event in this emerging field has become a hot topic in the research of transplantation immune tolerance mechanism.

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Fig. 1: Tissue deposition and intracellular uptake of Neu5Gc.
Fig. 2: The combination of xenoantigen and antibody induces immune rejection.
Fig. 3: Functional changes of immune cell-xenoantigen-antibody complex.
Fig. 4: A speculation of Neu5GC related Neu1 resistance in microglia and macrophages.

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Data availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are currently under embargo while the research findings are commercialized. Requests for data, 12 months after publication of this article, will be considered by the corresponding authors.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the students (Yue Luo and Xiaoxia Luo) from the Department of Medical Laboratory of Fujian Medical University for their support in language processing.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81871293, No. 82172953), the National Natural Science Foundation of Fujian (2021J02036 and 2021J01716). These funding sources played key supportive role for sample collection, molecular analysis of patient samples, and bioinformatics analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, 1st Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China

    Fadian Ding, Guozhong Liu, Zhibo Zhang & Shangeng Weng

  2. Institute of Abdominal Surgery, 1st Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China

    Fadian Ding, Zhibo Zhang & Shangeng Weng

  3. Department of Neonatology, Fujian Provincial Maternity and Children’s Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China

    Yunfeng Lin

  4. Reproductive Medicine Center, 1st Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350028, China

    Yuxin Liu & Qicai Liu

  5. Department of Pathology, 1st Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China

    Feng Gao

  6. Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Fuzhou, 350032, China

    Qicai Liu

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Ding, F., Lin, Y., Liu, G. et al. Immune disguise: the mechanisms of Neu5Gc inducing autoimmune and transplant rejection. Genes Immun 23, 175–182 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41435-022-00182-8

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