Page 140 - The Manga Guide to Biochemistry
P. 140
How strange! They look almost like little sea anemones or something, reaching out
from the bottom of the ocean. And they’re all over our blood cells?
Sugar
coating
Red blood cell
That’s right. There are actually over 100 different antigens that can coat red blood
cells and be used to classify blood types, so many different blood group systems are
possible. The most famous is the ABO blood group system, which was discovered in
1900 by the Austrian immunologist Karl Landsteiner.
That’s the system that we use now, right? With Type A, Type B, Type AB, and
Type O?
Right again! The ABO blood group system is based on three types of saccharide
molecules present on the surface of red blood cells. Each of these has a structure
called a sugar chain, which consists of several monosaccharides connected together.
sugar
chain
Three different
saccharide
types make up
the sugar chain.
Three types of “anemones” waving around down there, huh?
126 Chapter 3
