Platelets are small anucleate cell fragments found in blood whose physiological role is important in maintaining haemostasis. In vivo, platelet surface glycoproteins mediate the mechanistic roles of platelets, and polymorphic changes to these glycoproteins have been observed to have significant effects on the platelet cellular function and such changes may include over-expression, under-expression and antigenicity of the protein. Human platelet antigens (HPA) are a result of polymorphic differences in platelet surface glycoproteins which have been found to be variably expressed in the population. Foetal maternal alloimmune thrombocytopaenia (FMAIT) is a condition that is observed in the unborn foetus and neonates due to HPA incompatibility between the mother and the foetus. HPA incompatibility accounts for a majority of severe thrombocytopaenic cases in neonates, and delayed diagnosis and treatment of such a condition often lead to intracranial haemorrhage. The risk in neonates diagnosed with FMAIT becomes increasingly significant in cases where intra-uterine (during pregnancy) platelet transfusion is the only effective therapeutic option. There are currently no antenatal screening programs for this condition, and laboratory diagnosis of FMAIT relies on the detection of maternal alloantibodies and parental HPA typing. For these reasons a significant amount of research is currently being invested into the isolation of recombinant antibodies with specific reactivity against FMAIT-related platelet antigens. Stable and specific recombinant platelet antibodies have great potential as a diagnostic agent in antenatal screening and broad-scale HPA typing of blood donors for platelet transfusion. Further characterisation of the isolated antibody may lead to a possible therapeutic agent. Studies by previous researchers have shown that the traditional methods (ie. Mouse monoclonal and EBV transformation) of obtaining monoclonal antibodies against FMAIT-related antigens have proven unsuccessful. The continuing progress in the discipline of phage display has produced several novel antibodies against self and non-self antigens. A further advantage in the application of phage display technology for the isolation of novel antibodies is the easy transition from bacterial to mammalian expression for the characterisation of glycosylated antibodies. The main focus of this project was to create and isolate a recombinant human anti-HPA-3a antibody using phage display for its possible application as a therapeutic or diagnostic agent.

Platelets are small anucleate cell fragments found in blood whose physiological role is important in maintaining haemostasis. In vivo, platelet surface glycoproteins mediate the mechanistic roles of platelets, and polymorphic changes to these glycoproteins have been observed to have significant effects on the platelet cellular function and such changes may include over-expression, under-expression and antigenicity of the protein. Human platelet antigens (HPA) are a result of polymorphic differences in platelet surface glycoproteins which have been found to be variably expressed in the population. Foetal maternal alloimmune thrombocytopaenia (FMAIT) is a condition that is observed in the unborn foetus and neonates due to HPA incompatibility between the mother and the foetus. HPA incompatibility accounts for a majority of severe thrombocytopaenic cases in neonates, and delayed diagnosis and treatment of such a condition often lead to intracranial haemorrhage. The risk in neonates diagnosed with FMAIT becomes increasingly significant in cases where intra-uterine (during pregnancy) platelet transfusion is the only effective therapeutic option. There are currently no antenatal screening programs for this condition, and laboratory diagnosis of FMAIT relies on the detection of maternal alloantibodies and parental HPA typing. For these reasons a significant amount of research is currently being invested into the isolation of recombinant antibodies with specific reactivity against FMAIT-related platelet antigens. Stable and specific recombinant platelet antibodies have great potential as a diagnostic agent in antenatal screening and broad-scale HPA typing of blood donors for platelet transfusion. Further characterisation of the isolated antibody may lead to a possible therapeutic agent. Studies by previous researchers have shown that the traditional methods (ie. Mouse monoclonal and EBV transformation) of obtaining monoclonal antibodies against FMAIT-related antigens have proven unsuccessful. The continuing progress in the discipline of phage display has produced several novel antibodies against self and non-self antigens. A further advantage in the application of phage display technology for the isolation of novel antibodies is the easy transition from bacterial to mammalian expression for the characterisation of glycosylated antibodies. The main focus of this project was to create and isolate a recombinant human anti-HPA-3a antibody using phage display for its possible application as a therapeutic or diagnostic agent.

Human platelet antigens (HPA) is located on the platelet surface and they are inherited both from the mother and the father. If a mother who is homozygous for HPA-1b carries a child who has inherited HPA-1a from the father, the mother is in danger to form antibodies against HPA-1a on the fetal platelet. This may cause the child to suffer from neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT) that could lead to death. This can be prevented by platelet transfusion. EVA Biosensor Technology is a new method for detection of HPA-1 that is currently only approved for scientific research. The aim of this study was to evaluate EVAreader R6 and find HPA-1a negative platelet donors that can donate platelets to children born with NAIT. The test material consisted of blood samples from 513 male blood donors with blood group 0. The blood was lysed and tested in EVA-reader R6 from Davos Diagnostics. The result was shown on the screen after 10 min. The results that came out negative or intermediate was analyzed a second time. In total, nine HPA-1a negative donors and 503 HPA-1a positive donors were found. Approximately 2 % of the population is HPA-1a negative, which was reflected in the result. To make sure that the results are correct, a validation with an already existing method has to be made. The conclusion is that the EVA Biosensor Technology could be used for typing of HPA in the future, as long as the results from the validation is correct.