Two homozygous typing cells defining a subgroup of HLA-Dw6

Homozygous typing cells (HTC) and responder cells from a panel of randomly selected unrelated caucasians were used in a study of the HLA-Dw6 antigen complex. Using HTC characterized by the Eighth International Histocompatibility Workshop, the Dw6 specificity was shown to be a broadly defined, heterogeneous cluster that could be subdivided. An HTC from our laboratory, 8W146, and a second locally identified cell, EMJ, were used to define one clearly distinguishable subcluster of Dw6, provisionally termed "6.1." HTC 8W146 and EMJ were mutually nonreactive in mixed leukocyte culture and showed strong association (r = 0.85) when used as stimulators against the caucasian cell panel. The calculated gene frequency of the 8W146/EMJ determinant in this population was 0.024. In an informative family, the 6.1 specificity could be shown to segregate independently of other Dw6 subgroups. DR typing of 8W146 and EMJ showed both to be positive for MT-1 and MT-2 but negative for DRw "3 + 6."