Molecular typing of HLA-B27 alleles

• Published in: Immunogenetics (New York) Vol. 36; no. 5; pp. 277 - 282
• Main Authors: DOMINGUEZ, O, COTO, E, MARTINEZ-NAVES, E, CHOO, S. Y, LOPEZ-LARREA, C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Springer 01-08-1992; Berlin
• Subjects: Alleles; Amino Acid Sequence; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Line; Exons - genetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; Genotype; HLA-B27 Antigen - genetics; Humans; Molecular immunology; Molecular Sequence Data; Oligonucleotide Probes; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Techniques; Polymerase chain reaction; HLA-System; Immunogenetics; Allele; Typing; Major histocompatibility system; Class I histocompatibility antigen
• ISSN: 0093-7711; 1432-1211
• DOI: 10.1007/BF00215655

HLA-B27 represents a family of closely related antigens. Six alleles which differ in a limited number of nucleotide substitutions have been described (B*2701--B*2706). These changes are clustered in alpha 1 and alpha 2 domains. Polymerase chain reaction strategies were designed to amplify specific regions of class I exons 2 and 3. Amplified sequences were tested with eight sequence-specific oligonucleotides to distinguish all B27 subtypes. We also subtyped B27 in 50 healthy Spanish individuals using this procedure. The B*2705 subtype is over-represented in our population (96%). The remaining 4% carried the B*2702 allele. This finding is in agreement with the frequencies described by other techniques (cytotoxic T lymphocytes and isoelectric-focusing) for Caucasian populations. Class I oligotyping is a poorly developed field with significant potential applications. This procedure of genotyping B27 alleles is a reliable method which can be used in transplantation and B27-associated disease studies.