DEVELOPMENT OF PCR-SSOP FOR HLA-A TYPING OF BONE-MARROW REGISTRY DONORS

A medium resolution PCR-SSOP typing method, using 26 digoxigenin label led probes, has been established for the identification of HLA-A allel es. The system is capable of discriminating all of the serologically d efined specificities except for eight heterozygous combinations which are however rare in Caucasians. The method has been applied to 1,838 i ndividuals on the local bone marrow registry who either had only one d etectable HLA-A antigen, or a HLA-A antigen whose presence had been qu eried using the serological technique or a broad HLA-A specificity ass igned by the serological technique. In all but one case the serologica lly assigned antigens were detected with the PCR-SSOP method. In addit ion, PCR-SSOP detected the presence of a second HLA-A allele in over 1 0% of individuals who had been previously homozygous. Frequency inform ation, based on a population of 5,000 individuals, has been establishe d using a combination of molecular and serological typing data.