Removing antigens but not cells: a key to AMIS?

In this issue of Blood, Jajosky et al demonstrate that passive immunization with red blood cell (RBC) antibodies that have the ability to remove target antigens from RBCs, without affecting RBC clearance or CD4+ T-cell prolif-eration, can convert an augmented RBC alloimmune response to antibody-mediated immunosuppression (AMIS) in an established murine model of RBC alloimmunization.1 These findings shed light on the mechanisms of AMIS and have the potential to facilitate development of new strategies for AMIS against non-RhD RBC alloantigens to expand the prevention of hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN).