Probable HLA haplotypes in association with the uncommon HLA-C*03:36, -C*03:56, and -C*03:86 alleles in a Taiwanese population

Kuo-Liang Yang^{a, b}, Shen-Kuo Lee^a, Py-Yu Lin^a

^a Laboratory of Immunogenetics, Tzu Chi Cord Blood Bank and Buddhist Tzu Chi Marrow Donor Registry, Buddhist Tzu Chi Stem Cells Centre, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital, Hualien, Taiwan
^b Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan

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Abstract
Objective

HLA-C*03:36, -C*03:56 and -C*03:86 are three human leukocyte antigen type C (HLA-C) locus alleles that are rarely observed in the Taiwanese population. The objective of this study is to report the three plausible deduced HLA haplotypes in association with C*03:36, C*03:56, and C*03:86 in Taiwanese unrelated bone marrow stem cell donors.

Materials and Methods

The sequence-based typing method was used to confirm the low-incidence alleles observed. Polymerase chain reaction was carried out to amplify exons 2 and 3 of the HLA-C locus with group-specific primer sets. Amplicons were sequenced using the BigDye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction Kit in both directions according to the manufacturer's protocol.

Results

We confirmed the DNA sequences of C*03:36, C*03:56, and C*03:86 and deduced the three plausible HLA haplotypes in association with C*03:36 (A*33:03-B*58:01-C*03:36-DRB1*01:01), C*03:56 (A*02:01-B*48:01-C*03:56-DRB1*12:02), and C*03:86 (A*02-B*35-C*03:86-DRB1*09:01) in unrelated Taiwanese bone marrow stem cell donors.

Conclusion

The three uncommon HLA-C haplotypes that we provide here are valuable for HLA tissue-typing laboratories for reference purposes and for stem cell transplantation donor search coordinators to determine the likelihood of finding compatible donors in unrelated bone marrow donor registries for patients bearing these three uncommon HLA-C locus alleles.

Keywords
Haplotypes; HLA; Sequence-based typing; Stem cell; Transplantation