IDENTIFICATION OF HLA DQA1 ALLELES BY THE OLIGONUCLEOTIDE MICROCHIP METHOD

A new method of identification (typing) of HLA DQA1 alleles was develo ped. The method is based on PCR amplification of human genomic DNA and preparation of an RNA copy of one of the DNA strands; then the copy i s fragmented and the products are fluorescently labeled. The labeled p robe is hybridized with a microchip containing gel-immobilized oligonu cleotides chosen so that they cover essentially all polymorphic sites of the DQA1 gene. The experiments demonstrated the reliability and rep roducibility of the identification of alleles, as the results coincide d with those of DNA sequencing by the Sanger method. The main stages o f the identification are automated. Robotization of most stages is pos sible. The feasible throughput of the robotized system is hundreds to thousands samples per day. The method is applicable to identification of other genes of HLA classes I and II.