Identification of novel HLA alleles in human donors from Croatia
This study reports the identification of novel HLA class I (HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C) and class II (HLA-DRB1/3/4/5, HLA-DQB1, HLA-DPB1) alleles discovered through routine high-resolution HLA typing of volunteer donors and patients. Sequencing was performed using the Illumina iSeq and miniSeq platform with full-gene amplification and library preparation following the manufacturer's protocol for targeted amplicon sequencing.  Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples and analyzed using validated HLA typing software. Novel alleles were identified based on nucleotide sequence differences compared to known IMGT/HLA reference alleles, confirmed by repeated sequencing. The sequences presented here expand the catalog of known HLA allelic diversity and provide essential reference data for immunogenetic research, transplantation matching, and population genetics studies.