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Focuses on the celebration of the 75th birthday of Franz Ferschl, professor emeritus for statistics at the University of Munich in Munich, Germany. Interests of Ferschl in operations research, economics, sociology, demography and philosophy of science; Influence of his contributions to assemblage processes, Markovian decision processes, dynamic programming and decision theory on scholars and the field of quantitative economic research on the whole; Work experience at the University of Vienna.

Background: Administration of anti-CD38 antibodies is a state-of-the-art therapy for patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM). However, this treatment frequently leads to pan-agglutination of red blood cells (RBCs) in patients' serological testing making accurate blood typing and timely transfusion of compatible blood a challenging effort. The antigen masking indirect antiglobulin test (AMIAT) is an approach to address this diagnostic challenge., Study Design and Methods: A new reagent, called DaraEx plus, uses anti-CD38 Fab fragments to mitigate the anti-CD38 antibody interference in serological assays by masking CD38 on the cell surface. Its performance is extensively examined with commercial sera as well as with patient samples, and compared to the current standard method using dithiothreitol (DTT), which denatures the CD38 antigens on test panel erythrocytes., Results: In the Bio-Rad ID System, DaraEx plus effectively mitigated the interference caused by anti-CD38 antibodies in 86% of patient samples tested while DTT was successful in only 68%. Moreover, there was no negative influence on DTT-sensitive blood group systems such as KEL upon DaraEx plus treatment. The agglutination reactions of all tested anti-CD38 antibodies (Daratumumab, Felzartamab, and Isatuximab) were inhibited by DaraEx plus. The treatment was successful only if DaraEx plus was added to the test cells before the sample. Some of the other gel card systems tested showed background reactions with DaraEx plus-treated cells., Conclusion: DaraEx plus treatment is straightforward and quick to perform. In the Bio-Rad ID System, it is superior to DTT treatment in the prevention of anti-CD38 antibody interference., (© 2023 AABB.)

Background: All antigens described in the KN blood group system are located in the long homologous repeat D (LHR-D) of complement receptor 1 (CR1). While there have been reports that some sera react only with the long homologous repeat C (LHR-C), the antigens in LHR-C are unknown., Study Design and Methods: Recombinant LHR-C and LHR-D were used to identify antibodies directed against LHR-C of CR1, into which a point mutation was introduced to characterize the underlying blood group antigens. In addition, database studies to define haplotypes of CR1 were performed., Results: Several antisera were identified that were specific against CR1 p.1208His and against CR1 p.1208Arg, located in LHR-C. Fifteen KN haplotypes were found in the Ensembl genome browser. It was shown that due to a linkage disequilibrium anti-CR1 p.1208His may be mistaken for anti-KCAM., Conclusion: A novel antithetical KN blood group antigen pair was found at position p.1208 of CR1, for which the names DACY and YCAD are proposed. Antibodies against these two novel antigens seem to contribute to more than a quarter of all KN sera in Europe., (© 2020 AABB.)

The peptide-loading complex plays a pivotal role in Ag processing and is thus central to the efficient immune recognition of virally and malignantly transformed cells. The underlying mechanism by which MHC class I (MHC I) molecules sample immunodominant peptide epitopes, however, remains poorly understood. In this article, we delineate the interaction between tapasin (Tsn) and MHC I molecules. We followed the process of peptide editing in real time after ultra-fast photoconversion to pseudoempty MHC I molecules. Tsn discriminates between MHC I loaded with optimal and MHC I bound to suboptimal cargo. This differential interaction is key to understanding the kinetics of epitope proofreading. To elucidate the underlying mechanism at the atomic level, we modeled the Tsn/MHC I complex using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. We present a catalytic working cycle, in which Tsn binds to MHC I with suboptimal cargo and thereby adjusts the energy landscape in favor of MHC I complexes with immunodominant epitopes., (Copyright © 2015 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.)

Background: Alloantibodies to high-prevalence red blood cell (RBC) antigens are not easily identified by routine serologic techniques. This multicenter study was conducted to test the effectiveness of recombinant blood group proteins (rBGPs) at regional and international RBC reference laboratories., Study Design and Methods: Single or mixed soluble rBGPs (Lu, Yt, Kn, JMH, Sc, Rg, Ch, Do, and Cr) were assessed for their ability to inhibit the reactivity of antibodies to specific antigens. Initially, the effect of rBGPs was validated by testing panels of well-characterized patient serum samples containing antibodies to high-prevalence antigens in the hemagglutination inhibition assay. Subsequently, the rBGPs were prospectively used for routine antibody identification and the results were compared to those obtained with RBC-based diagnostics., Results: Panels of predefined antibodies to high-prevalence antigens were completely and specifically neutralized by the corresponding rBGP specificities. For prospective identification, antibodies to high-prevalence antigens (n = 62) were specifically inhibited by the corresponding rBGP specificities except for some Complement Receptor 1-related antibodies, which may be directed to epitopes not expressed on the truncated recombinant Kn. In 14 cases, additional clinically relevant alloantibodies were identified. In cross-matching, the rBGPs were successfully used to inhibit the reactivity of clinically irrelevant antibodies to high-prevalence antigens to determine compatibility between donor and recipient., Conclusion: rBGPs enable the identification of antibodies to high-prevalence antigens without the need for rare RBC reagents, which are often unavailable. Underlying antibodies can be reliably detected and cross-matching results validated, resulting in a more efficient blood supply for immunized patients., (© 2014 AABB.)

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and II proteins have been in the focus of interest for immunologists, biochemists, cell biologists, and structural biologists for decades. With dozens of entries in the Protein Data Bank, their crystal structures are now sufficiently well understood, while their dynamic properties such as peptide binding and intracellular trafficking and their immunological (as well as non-immunological) functions are still being intensely investigated. In recent years, new methods and technologies have emerged to detect and characterize the conformational changes and intermediate states that accompany peptide binding and exchange by MHC proteins. These techniques have delivered more detailed information and allowed us to compare the molecular mechanisms of peptide selection between MHC class I and II proteins, suggesting both similarities and differences. Here, we review these recent achievements and suggest avenues for further work., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Calreticulin is a lectin chaperone of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In calreticulin-deficient cells, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules travel to the cell surface in association with a sub-optimal peptide load. Here, we show that calreticulin exits the ER to accumulate in the ER-Golgi intermediate compartment (ERGIC) and the cis-Golgi, together with sub-optimally loaded class I molecules. Calreticulin that lacks its C-terminal KDEL retrieval sequence assembles with the peptide-loading complex but neither retrieves sub-optimally loaded class I molecules from the cis-Golgi to the ER, nor supports optimal peptide loading. Our study, to the best of our knowledge, demonstrates for the first time a functional role of intracellular transport in the optimal loading of MHC class I molecules with antigenic peptide.

To understand the mechanism of action of the chaperone protein tapasin, which mediates loading of high-affinity peptides onto major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules in the antiviral immune response, we have performed numerical simulations of the class I-peptide binding process with four different mechanistic hypotheses from the literature, and tested our predictions by laboratory experiments. We find - in agreement of experimental and theoretical studies - that class I-peptide binding in cells is generally under kinetic control, and that tapasin introduces partial thermodynamic control to the process by competing with peptide for binding to class I. Based on our results, we suggest further experimental directions.