DRw8 microvariation: a new DRB1 allele identified in association with DQw7 in American blacks

In the American black population, DRw8 is commonly found in association with DQw7 and an undefined HLA-D specificity. Polymerase chain reaction amplification was used to obtain DRB1 cDNA clones from two unrelated individuals expressing this haplotype. The DRB1 sequence is most similar to a sequence found in cells expressing DRw8, DQw4, Dw8.2 differing at the protein level by a single amino acid substitution at position 86.