title: Epitope-specificities of HLA antibodies: the effect of epitope structure on Luminex technique-dependent antibody reactivity.
abstract: The search of HLA antibodies is currently more accessible by solid-phase techniques (Luminex) in the immunized patients leading to an expansion of the antibody patterns. The aim of this study was to investigate low median fluorescence intensity value in unexpected reactivity patterns. Here, we performed HLAMatchmaker analyses to evaluate the potential functional epitopes that can elicit HLA-specific alloantibody responses in a pregnancy-sensitized woman with an epitope defined by the 82LR. Surprisingly, in according to the registry of HLA epitopes, we found that 82LR epitope covered all allelic specificities of our unexpected antibody patterns, shared between Bw4-positive HLA-B antigen and HLA-A23, -A24, -A25 and -A32. This finding is consistent with the verification of HLA ABC epitope recorded in the website-based HLA Epitope Registry and addresses the importance of determining HLA antibody epitope-specificities on Luminex technique-dependent antibody reactivity.
authors.affiliation: U.O.C. Immunohematology, Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Immunology (SIMT), Regional Reference Laboratory of Transplant Immunology (LIT), Azienda Universitaria Policlinico (AOU), Second University of Naples, Piazza Miraglia 2, 80138 Naples, Italy. Electronic address: marianna.resse@unina2.it.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Resse
authors.affiliation: U.O.C. Immunohematology, Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Immunology (SIMT), Regional Reference Laboratory of Transplant Immunology (LIT), Azienda Universitaria Policlinico (AOU), Second University of Naples, Piazza Miraglia 2, 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Rossella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paolillo
authors.affiliation: U.O.C. Immunohematology, Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Immunology (SIMT), Regional Reference Laboratory of Transplant Immunology (LIT), Azienda Universitaria Policlinico (AOU), Second University of Naples, Piazza Miraglia 2, 80138 Naples, Italy; Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and General Pathology, Second University of Naples, via De Crecchio 7, 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Biagio Pellegrino
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Minucci
authors.affiliation: U.O.C. Immunohematology, Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Immunology (SIMT), Regional Reference Laboratory of Transplant Immunology (LIT), Azienda Universitaria Policlinico (AOU), Second University of Naples, Piazza Miraglia 2, 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cavalca
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and General Pathology, Second University of Naples, via De Crecchio 7, 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Amelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casamassimi
authors.affiliation: U.O.C. Immunohematology, Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Immunology (SIMT), Regional Reference Laboratory of Transplant Immunology (LIT), Azienda Universitaria Policlinico (AOU), Second University of Naples, Piazza Miraglia 2, 80138 Naples, Italy; Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and General Pathology, Second University of Naples, via De Crecchio 7, 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Napoli
mesh_terms: D000918:Antibody Specificity / Q000235:genetics; D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching / Q000379:methods*; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D007518:Isoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D007690:Polycystic Kidney Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011485:Protein Binding; D012984:Software; D060327:Solid-Phase Synthesis Techniques
chemical_list: D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; C042388:HLA-Bw4 antigen; D007518:Isoantibodies
keywords: Eplet; HLA Epitope Registry; HLA antibodies; HLAMatchmaker; Luminex