Yt Blood Group System

Yt blood group system, also called Cartwright blood group system, classification of human blood based on the presence of molecules known as Yt antigens on the surface of red blood cells. The Yt antigens, Yt^a and Yt^b, were discovered in 1956 and 1964, respectively. The Yt blood group is named after Cartwright, the person in whom antibodies to the Yt antigens were first discovered. However, all the letters in the individual’s name, with the exception of T, were already used in the names of other blood group antigens. The researchers who discovered the Yt blood group then reasoned “Why not T?” and hence Yt became the official name. The importance of the Yt blood group in humans was revealed in the 1990s, when researchers uncovered the molecular differences between the two Yt antigens and associated the absence of these antigens from red blood cells with a disease known as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

The Yt antigens are located on a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein that is encoded by the gene ACHE (acetylcholinesterase). The Yt^a and Yt^b antigens are distinguished molecularly by a single amino acid difference in the acetylcholinesterase protein. Acetylcholinesterase normally acts as an enzyme in the nervous system, rendering a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine inactive in the gaps (synapses) between neurons. However, the precise function of acetylcholinesterase on red blood cells is unclear. The Yt^a antigen occurs in about 99 percent of individuals. In contrast, the Yt^b antigen typically has an incidence of about 8 percent, although it is more frequent in certain populations (e.g., it is found in about 20 percent of Israelis).

In healthy individuals the Yt antigen null phenotype—in which both antigens are absent from the surface of red blood cells, designated Yt(a−b−)—has not been detected. However, in persons affected by paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, in which red blood cells are destroyed by cells of the immune system, GPI-linked proteins are missing from cells, and hence Yt antigens may be very weakly expressed or missing as well. The absence of GPI-linked proteins is suspected to play a role in facilitating the premature destruction of red blood cells. Antibodies to Yt antigens have been associated with delayed transfusion reactions.