Identification of an HLA-C variant allele, Cw*0805, by sequencing based typing

We have identified a variant HLA-C allele, Cw*0805, in DNA isolated from a blood sample used in the UK National External Quality Assessment Scheme for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. The DNA was initially typed by PCR-SSP and PCR-SBT as Cw*0802, 1602 with a single mismatch in exon 2 of one of the alleles. The two HLA-C alleles were separated by locus- and allele-specific PCRs and sequencing analysis showed that the Cw*0802 allele was variant in this sample, with a single mismatch in exon 2 at position 289.