A group‐specific sequencing approach to investigate the presence of atypical human leucocyte antigen alleles

Accurate human leucocyte antigen (HLA) typing results are essential in determining the degree of compatibility between donor and recipient in both solid organ (SO) and hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation. Current HLA typing methodologies can generate ambiguous results which may need resolving. This group‐specific sequencing approach allowed investigation into the presence of the low expressor HLA‐A*24:02:01:02L allele and the rare HLA‐A*02:64 allele in a SO transplant recipient and a HSC transplant recipient, respectively. Locus‐specific amplification of HLA‐A was performed. Exons 2 and 3 were sequenced in both directions followed by group‐specific sequencing to resolve ambiguities. Hemizygous sequence data of intron 2 generated from the HLA‐A*24 allele indicated the presence of the HLA‐A*24:02:01:01 allele. HLA‐A*02:64 was identified by sequencing the allele in isolation over exons 2 and 3 and allowed confirmation of this allele sequence with the IMGT/HLA database (Accession number AY297166). This approach is cost efficient and can be modified to sequence alleles at other HLA loci. It has also been adapted to characterize the novel HLA‐DQB1*06:48 allele (Accession number HE647646) as well as the non‐HLA gene, UGT2B17, making it a useful tool to augment existing typing methodologies.