The Distribution of HLA - A * 02 Subtypes in Koreans

Han, Hoon; Kim, Tai Gyu; Choi, Hee Baeg; Chung, Te June

Abstract

HLA-A2 is present at high frequency in most populations, as identified by serological and biochemical means. The values of these methods are limited by their failures to discriminate the products of the known allelic HLA-A02 variants. The great majority of genetic polymorphism which defines the allelic variants is found in exons 2 and 3 of the HLA-A02 gene. These exons encode the a-1 and a-2 domains of the HLA class I molecules, and the variation within the genes may influence the peptide binding specificity of the gene products of each allele. To determine the 17 known alleles of HLA-A02 an ARMS-PCR was developed. We applied this ARMS-PCR to 10 standard cell lines and we confirmed the specificity and sensitivity of this method. We defined the HLA-A 02 subtypes in 146 healthy Koreans who were serologically identified as HLA-A2. Five subtypes out of the 17 known A02 alleles were detected (A'0201, 0203, 0206, 0207, '0210) and A'0201 was most frequent (53.4%) and A'0206, '0207, '0203, 0210 (37.0%, 18.5%, 2.7%, 2.1%), were followed respectively. By linkage disequilibrium analysis with HLA-B alleles, A*02 subtypes were defined to be associated with many B alleles (B27, 35, 38, 39, 46, 52, 60, and 61). It is suggested that these findings may be helpful for the selection of patients for the specific immunotherapy with HLA-A02 restricted peptide vaccines and for the unrelated bone marrow transplantation in Korean.