Identification of a new HLA-DRB5 allele, DRB5*0112, by routine PCR-SSP

We describe the identification of a new HLA-DRB5 allele found in two members of a British Caucasoid family. Genomic analysis of exon 2 revealed a novel sequence. The name DRB5*0112 has been assigned to this allele by the WHO Nomenclature Committee, and the EMBL sequence database accession number for this is AJ427352. DRB5*0112 has several unique sequence features when compared to other DRB5 alleles, and comparison with all known DRB1/3/4/5 alleles indicates this to have arisen as a result of intraexonic recombination between a DRB5-containing haplotype and one carrying DRB1*09.