Identification of a novel HLA-B*44 variant (B*4441) in three unrelated Caucasian individuals

Here, we report the identification of a new human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B*44 allele found almost simultaneous in three DNA samples which were part of routine bone marrow donor typing by order of the German registry 'Aktion Knochenmarkspende Bayern'. The samples appeared noticeable in different polymerase chain reactions using sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) or sequence-specific oligonucleotides (PCR-SSO). Sequence-based typing revealed a novel allele officially designated as B*4441*. This sequence differs from HLA-B*44020101/4427 by two nucleotide positions at the beginning of exon 3: by position 353 (T to C) and by position 355 (A to C). These differences in sequence result in deviant amino acids at codon 94 (Ile94Thr) and codon 95 (Ile95Leu).