Rh Associated Glycoprotein (RHAG)

Ridgwell et al. (1992) isolated cDNA clones representing a member of the Rh50 glycoprotein family, the Rh50A glycoprotein. They used PCR with degenerate primers based on the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the Rh50 glycoproteins and human genomic DNA as a template. The cDNA clones containing the full coding sequence of the Rh50A glycoprotein predicted a 409-amino acid N-glycosylated membrane protein with up to 12 transmembrane domains.

It showed clear similarity to the Rh30A protein in both amino acid sequence and predicted topology. The findings were considered consistent with the possibility that the Rh30 and Rh50 groups of proteins are different subunits of an oligomeric complex which is likely to have a transport or channel function in the erythrocyte membrane.