NONRADIOACTIVE SSCP FOR GENOTYPING HUMAN PLATELET ALLOANTIGENS

Human platelet alloantigen systems are responsible for neonatal and po st-transfusional thrombocytopenias. The determination of the different allotypes can be performed using immunological or DNA-based methods. The most used DNA-based procedure requires the digestion by specific r estriction enzymes of PCR products containing the genetic determinants of these alloantigens. We now report a rapid method of genotyping whi ch does not use restriction enzymes and is less prone to misinterpreta tion. This is non-radioactive PCR-SSCP (single strand conformation pol ymorphism), which we illustrate for two different HPA systems, one on GPIIIa (HPA-1) and the other on GPIIb (HPA-3).