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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Emma ScottORCiD, Professor Craig Robson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Copyright © 2024 Hutton, Scott, Robson, Signoret and Fascione.Despite an array of hypothesised implications for health, disease, and therapeutic development, antibodies against the non-human sialic acid N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) remain a subject of much debate. This systematic review of 114 publications aimed to generate a comprehensive overview of published studies in this field, addressing both the reported prevalence of anti-Neu5Gc antibodies in the human population and whether experimental variation accounts for the conflicting reports about the extent of this response. Absolute titres of anti-Neu5Gc antibodies, the reported prevalence of these antibodies, and the individual variation observed within experiments were analysed and grouped according to biological context (‘inflammation’, ‘xenotransplantation’, ‘biotherapeutic use’, ‘cancer’, and ‘healthy populations’), detection method, target epitope selection, and choice of blocking agent. These analyses revealed that the experimental method had a notable impact on both the reported prevalence and absolute titres of anti-Neu5Gc antibodies in the general population, thereby limiting the ability to ascribe reported trends to genuine biological differences or the consequence of experimental design. Overall, this review highlights important knowledge gaps in the study of antibodies against this important xenoautoantigen and the need to establish a standardised method for their quantification if the extent of the importance of Neu5Gc in human health is to be fully understood.
Author(s): Hutton E, Scott E, Robson CN, Signoret N, Fascione MA
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences
Year: 2024
Volume: 11
Online publication date: 26/04/2024
Acceptance date: 26/03/2024
ISSN (electronic): 2296-889X
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
URL: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2024.1390711
DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2024.1390711
