Analysis of the complete genomic sequence of HLA‐A alleles in the Chinese Han population

To analyse the complete genomic sequences and investigate the intron polymorphism of the human leucocyte antigen (HLA)‐A locus, the full‐length nucleotide sequences of each major allelic group of HLA‐A in the Chinese Han population were determined, including HLA‐A*01, A*02, A*03, A*11, A*23, A*24, A*26, A*29, A*30, A*31, A*32, A*33, A*34, A*68, A*69. More than 3.0‐kb DNA fragment of HLA‐A locus was amplified from 5′‐untranslated region to 3′‐noncoding region for sequencing. Full‐length sequences of the HLA‐A alleles were determined using an ABI BigDye^® Terminator Cycle Sequencing kit and the HLA‐A phylogenetic tree was analysed by dnaman software. Full‐length nucleotide sequences of 15 HLA‐A alleles (GenBank Accession numbers EU445470 – EU445484 ) were obtained. HLA‐A*110101, A*2301, A*300101, A*310102, A*330301, A*340101, A*680102 and A*6901 alleles were firstly reported for complete genomic sequences. Total 247 polymorphism positions were found in the complete genomic sequences of HLA‐A alleles and a insertion of 17 nucleotides within intron 3 was observed in several allelic groups. According to the phylogenetic tree of the full‐length nucleotide sequences, HLA‐A locus was classified into seven major allelic lineages. In this study, complete genomic sequences of common HLA‐A alleles were obtained and the data will help us understand the evolution of HLA‐A.