An enzymatic basis for Lewis blood Types in man

Evelyn F. Grollman; Akira Kobata; Victor Ginsburg

doi:10.1172/JCI106115

Published August 1, 1969 - More info

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Abstract

Milk from women with blood type Le(a+) or Le(b+) contains a specific fucosyltransferase not found in the milk of women with blood type Le(a- b-). The enzyme, a guanosine diphosphate L-fucose: N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminylsaccharide α-4-L-fucosyltransferase is apparently required for the synthesis of the structural determinants of Le^a and Le^b specificity, both of which contain fucose in an α-1,4 linkage to N-acetylglucosamine. The same enzyme is also involved in the synthesis of milk oligosaccharides, as two oligosaccharides which contain this linkage are absent from the milk of women with Le(a- b-) blood type.