The GIL
blood group system was added to the list of systems already recognized by the International Society for
Blood Transfusion in 2002. It was designated as system 29 after the
antigen was located on the
aquaglyceroporin 3 (
AQP3) protein and the gene encoding the
protein was identified in 2002. There is only one antigenin the system, GIL, and the
antigen, as well as the system, was named after the
antigen-negative proband identified in the United States who had made anti-GIL. It was later shown to be the same as an unidentified high-incidence
antigen lacking from the red blood cells of a French woman. Coincidentally all the
antibodies found have been produced as a result of pregnancy. While there has not been a direct link to a disease, the absence of the
AQP3 protein may result in a worse than expected rate of survival of patients with
bladder cancer as compared with patients with the same disease who express the
protein. Future work may center on using GIL as a marker for AQP3 and involving it in targeted
cancer therapies.