Discovery of HLA ‐ DRB 1*03:20 allele in a T aiwanese volunteer hematopoietic stem cell donor and the probable HLA ‐ A , ‐ B , ‐ C and ‐ DRB 1 haplotype in association with DRB 1*03:20

Summary The allele HLA ‐ DRB 1*03:20, a variant of DRB 1*03, was first reported to the IMGT HLA database in A pril 2001 without indication on the ethnicity of the blood donor ( C ell ID : HC 125775). We found a T aiwanese volunteer hematopoietic stem cell donor carries DRB 1*03:20 by a sequence‐based typing ( SBT ) method. The DNA sequence of DRB 1*03:20 is identical to the sequence of DRB 1*03:01:01 in exon 2, except a nucleotide substitution at position 341(T→C) ( GTT → GCT at codon 85). The nucleotide replacement produced an amino acid variation at residue 85 (V→A). We hypothesize that DRB 1*03:20 was probably derived from DRB 1*03:01:01 via a nucleotide point mutation event. The probable HLA haplotype in association with DRB 1*03:20 was deduced as A*11:02‐B*58:01‐C*07:02‐ DRB 1*03:20. We here report the T aiwanese/ C hinese ethnicity of DRB 1*03:20.