title: Twelve HLA-DR6-related DRB1 alleles and associated DR, DQ haplotypes in traditional Australians and other populations of Asia-Oceania.
abstract: The relative distributions of 12 HLA-DR6-related HLA-DRB1 alleles in indigenous populations of Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and northern and southern China have been determined by analysis of nucleotide sequence polymorphisms in 364 examples of HLA-DR6 positive chromosomes. Oligonucleotide hybridizations of polymerase chain reaction products of HLA-DQA1, DQB1, DRB1 and DRB3 genes generated 24 HLA-DR6-related haplotypes. The study aimed to determine the regional distribution of DR,DQ haplotypes associated with three novel HLA-DR6 alleles, namely DRB1*1408, 1409, and 1410, known to occur in Australian Aborigines, to gain further insights into the molecular phylogeny of these alleles. DRB1*1408 was the most common HLA-DR6 subtype in Oceania, although it was not detected in Chinese. In Australian Aborigines and Papua New Guinean highlanders, DRB1*1408 was associated with DRB3*0202, while in Polynesians and Micronesians it was associated with DRB3*0101. The different haplotype arrangements, together with the near absence of DRB1*1408 in coastal Melanesians, suggest the possibility that two independent mutations have generated DRB1*1408 in Australia and Oceania. DRB1*1409 and 1410 alleles were confined to Australian Aborigines, while DRB1*1407 was found exclusively in Melanesians; DRB1*1401 was the only HLA-DR6 allele represented in all study populations. The population-specific HLA-DR6 alleles and haplotypes have important implications for unrelated bone-marrow donor registries in Australia and Oceania.
authors.affiliation: Human Genetics Group, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Serjeantson
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D000483:Alleles; D001315:Australia; D001483:Base Sequence; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005802:Genes, MHC Class II; D006239:Haplotypes; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000235:genetics; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D015808:HLA-DR6 Antigen / Q000235:genetics; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D010139:Pacific Islands / Q000208:ethnology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D000095283:Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples; D000095188:Pacific Island People; D000095225:East Asian People
chemical_list: D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D015808:HLA-DR6 Antigen; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes