Novel HLA-B alleles, B*8201, B*3515 and B*5106, add to the complexity of serologic identification of HLA types.
Three class I alleles, B*8201, B*3515 and B*5106, have been described using DNA and cDNA sequencing. The B*8201 allele is most structurally related to B*5602, differing from it by 14 nucleotide substitutions resulting in 5 amino acid differences. The other two alleles, B*3515 and B*5106, differ from their most closely related HLA-B alleles by 2-3 nucleotide substitutions resulting in 1-2 amino acid substitutions, respectively. The majority of nucleotide substitutions marking these new alleles are observed in other HLA-B alleles suggesting that gene conversion and/or reciprocal recombination have created this diversity. All of the amino acid substitutions are predicted to alter the antigen binding site of the HLA-B molecule. The newly defined HLA-B allelic products were originally defined by their unusual serologic reactivity patterns. The B*8201 allelic product is serologically typed as a B "blank" or as a variant of B22 or B45. These patterns and the serologic reactivity of the other newly described allelic products are consistent with the protein sequence homology among specific HLA-B molecules. While serology remains a powerful tool for detecting HLA diversity, alleles generated by events resulting in the sharing of HLA sequence polymorphisms among alleles at a locus will continue to create complexity in the interpretation of typing results.
Hurley
C K
CK
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Georgetown University Medical School, Washington, DC, USA.
Steiner
N
N
Hoyer
R J
RJ
Menchaca
E
E
Mitton
W
W
Simonis
T
T
Hartzman
R J
RJ
Johnson
A H
AH
Ng
J
J
D000483:Alleles; D000940:Antigenic Variation / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015797:HLA-B35 Antigen / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D059949:HLA-B51 Antigen; D015795:HLA-B8 Antigen / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D015797:HLA-B35 Antigen; D059949:HLA-B51 Antigen; D015795:HLA-B8 Antigen