UHG CROSS-MATCHING - A COMPARISON WITH PCR-SSO TYPING IN THE SELECTION OF HLA-DPB1-COMPATIBLE BONE-MARROW DONORS

The technique of universal heteroduplex generator (UHG) crossmatching has been developed to permit comparison of HLA-DPB1 alleles between tw o or more individuals. It offers a rapid and simple method of screenin g prospective bone marrow donors for HLA-DPB1 compatibility with the r ecipient. We present the nucleotide sequence and describe the method o f construction of the DPB1 UHG. To test its effectiveness, 56 patient- bone marrow donor pairs previously HLA-DPB1-typed by PCR-SSO probing, were tested by UHG crossmatching. In 52/56 (93%) pairs there was conco rdance between PCR-SSO typing and UHG crossmatching. All 32 pairs that were defined as mismatched by PCR-SSO typing were also mismatched by UHG crossmatching. We conclude that UHG crossmatching is a simple, sen sitive, and cost effective method of HLA-DPB1 matching for the rapid s election of compatible bone marrow donors.