Identification of two novel HLA alleles, HLA‐A*02010103 and HLA‐B*4455, and characterization of the complete genomic sequence of HLA‐A*290201

Abstract
We describe two novel human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles, HLA-A*02010103 and HLA-B*4455, that were discovered in two unrelated Caucasian individuals. In addition, we report the full-length genomic sequence of HLA-A*290201. Compared with HLA-A*02010101, HLA-A*02010103 has three nucleotide (nt) changes within intron 1, which is altered to a sequence typical of the HLA-A*23/A*24 allele group. In HLA-B*4455, an nt exchange occurred in codon 9 of HLA-B*44020101, resulting in a change of the amino acid coding from tyrosine to histidine. We sequenced HLA-A*290201 from nt −108 to nt 2922, encompassing all exons and introns as well as parts of the 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions. Previously, the full-length genomic sequence was known only for HLA-A*29010101, which is found at a lower frequency in Caucasians than HLA-A*290201.