Glycophorin A (GYPA)

Glycophorins A (GYPA) and B (GYPB) are major sialoglycoproteins of the human erythrocyte membrane which bear the antigenic determinants for the MN and Ss blood groups. GYPA gene consists of 7 exons and has 97% sequence homology with GYPB from the 5' UTR to the coding sequence encoding the first 45 amino acids. In addition to the M or N and S or s antigens, that commonly occur in all populations, about 40 related variant phenotypes have been identified. These variants include all the variants of the Miltenberger complex and several isoforms of Sta; also, Dantu, Sat, He, Mg, and deletion variants Ena, S-s-U- and Mk. Most of the variants are the result of gene recombinations between GYPA and GYPB. Glycophorin A (GPA, CD235a) is a major membrane glycoprotein and marker of cells of the erythroid lineage. It is also the target of Plasmodium falciparum and of influenza virus.