Cited by 212Xenotransplantation and immune responseGlycosylation and Glycoproteins ResearchOrgan and Tissue Transplantation Research

The α-gal epitope (Galα1-3Galβ1-4GlcNAc-R) in xenotransplantation

Galili, Uri·2001·Biochimie

Abstract

Many patients with failing organs (e.g., heart, liver or kidneys), do not receive the needed organ because of an insufficient number of organ donors. Pig xenografts have been considered as an alternative source of organs for transplantation. The major obstacle currently known to prevent pig to human xenotransplantation is the interaction between the human natural anti-Gal antibody and the α-gal epitope (Galα1-3Galβ1-4GlcNAc-R), abundantly expressed on pig cells. This short review describes the characteristics of anti-Gal and of the alpha-gal epitope, their role in inducing xenograft rejection and some experimental approaches for preventing this rejection.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/s0300-9084(01)01294-9

Cites

69 of 69 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Alpha-Gal epitopes are specific carbohydrate structures found on the cell surface of non-primate mammals such as pigs, and are absent in humans and Old-World monkeys due to mutations in the α1,3-galactosyl-transferase gene.

    “Alpha-Gal epitopes (Galα1-3Galβ1-4GlcNAc-R) are specific carbohydrate structures found on the cell surface of non-primate mammals, such as pigs. These epitopes are absent in humans and Old-World monkeys due to mutations in the α1,3-galactosyl-transferase gene [64,65].”

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Galili, U.
Affiliations
Rush University (US)
Corresponding author
Galili, Uri
Venue
Biochimie
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2001-07
Volume
83
Issue
7
Pages
557-563
ISSN
  • 0037-9042 (ISSN-L)
  • 0300-9084
OpenAlex
W1987909360
Cited by
212
References
69
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 9
FWCI
2.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Biochimie (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Xenotransplantation and immune response
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Glycosylation and Glycoproteins Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Transplantation › Organ and Tissue Transplantation Research
Keywords
alpha-gal epitope, xenotransplantation, anti-Gal antibodies, xenograft rejection, organ shortage, rejection prevention, glycosylphosphatidylinositol
MeSH terms
Animals, Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity, Carbohydrate Sequence, Galactosyltransferases, Graft Rejection, Humans, Immune Tolerance, Swine, T-Lymphocytes, Transplantation, Heterologous, Trisaccharides

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review