Two new HLA Cw* alleles, Cw*0105 and Cw*1405, detected by sequence based typing

During recent years, the view of the relative importance of the HLA Cw locus has undergone substantial change. From being an HLA locus with both limited polymorphism and biological significance there are now more than a hundred different alleles known and the biological importance of HLA Cw, both as a transplantation antigen and as a receptor for NK cells, is well established. Sequence based typing has been shown to be a powerful tool, especially for HLA Cw typing. Here we describe two new HLA Cw* alleles found during routine typing of potential bone marrow donors and hematological patients. The HLA Cw*0105 differs from Cw*0102 at positions 361 and 368 in exon 3 leading to a Trp to Arg and Cys to Ser substitution, respectively. HLA Cw*1405 differs from Cw*14021 by a single nucleotide substitution at position 368. This mutation results in an amino acid substitution of Phe for Tyr.