Detection and characterization of the novel HLA-DPA1*02:66:02N allele, with a codon in exon 2

The failure to identify HLA null alleles in bone marrow transplantation could be life-threatening because this could result in an HLA mismatch with the ability to trigger the graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) and to reduce patient's survival. In this report we describe the identification and characterization of the novel HLA-DPA1*02:66:02N allele with a non-sense codon in exon 2. This new allele was discovered in two unrelated bone marrow donors during routine HLA-typing using next-generation sequencing (NGS). DPA1*02:66:02N is homologous to DPA1*02:01:01:03 with a single nucleotide difference in exon 2, codon 50, where the replace-ment of C located at genomic position 3825 by T, causes the formation of a premature stop codon (TGA), result-ing in a null allele. This description illustrates the benefits of HLA typing by NGS since it permits to reduce ambiguities, identify new alleles, analyze multiple HLA loci and improve transplantation outcome.