Fc mutagenesis enhances the functionality of anti-RhD monoclonal antibodies.

Haemolytic disease of the foetus and newborn (HDFN) due to Rhesus D (RhD) antigen mismatch between the mother and foetus has been a significant cause of neonatal jaundice, recurrent miscarriage and stillbirth throughout history. Anti-RhD prophylaxis using polyclonal immunoglobulin G (RhD-pIgG) derived from the plasma of RhD-negative donors immunised with RhD-positive red blood cells (RBCs), has reduced the incidence of HDFN, but this approach is currently restricted to developed countries. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) offer a promising alternative to address this pressing need, but prior attempts to develop effective anti-RhD mAbs have failed, in some cases due to differences in fucosylation patterns between mAbs produced in cell lines and RhD-pIgG.

CD98 defines a metabolically flexible, proinflammatory subset of low-density neutrophils in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Background: Low-density neutrophils (LDN) are a distinct subset of neutrophils rarely detected in healthy people but appear in the blood of patients with autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and are mobilised in response to granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). The aim of this study was to identify novel mechanisms responsible for the pathogenic capacity of LDN in SLE.

Methods: Neutrophils were isolated from donors treated with G-CSF, and whole-cell proteomic analysis was performed on LDN and normal-density neutrophils.

G-CSF - A double edge sword in neutrophil mediated immunity.

Neutrophils are vital for the innate immune system's control of pathogens and neutrophil deficiency can render the host susceptible to life-threatening infections. Neutrophil responses must also be tightly regulated because excessive production, recruitment or activation of neutrophils can cause tissue damage in both acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a key regulator of neutrophil biology, from production, differentiation, and release of neutrophil precursors in the bone marrow (BM) to modulating the function of mature neutrophils outside of the BM, particularly at sites of inflammation.