Cloned primed lymphocyte test cells recognize the fourth, fifth, and sixth hypervariable regions at amino acid positions 65–87 of the DPB1 molecule

Abstract Genetic polymorphisms of the HLA-DPB 1 gene in Japanese and Caucasian panel cells defined by PLT were analyzed by the PCR-based genotyping technique PCR-RFLP, and suballeles of DPw3 (DPB 1 ∗ 03) and DP“Cp63” (DPB 1 ∗ 09) could be detected. PLT-defined DPw3 cells were typed by PCR-RFLP as either DPB 1 ∗ 0301 or DPB 1 ∗ 1401. On the other hand, PLT-defined DPCp63-typed cells were typed as DPB 1 ∗ 0901 or DPB 1 ∗ 1001. These results indicate that both DPw3 and DPCp63 are split into two subantigens. DPw2 and DPw4 are DPB 1 ∗ 0201 and 0202 and DPB 1 ∗ 0401 and 0402, respectively. Comparative analysis of the amino acid sequences of the DPw2-, DPw4-, DPw3-, and DPCp63-associated alleles revealed that the fourth (C), fifth (D), and sixth (E) hypervariable regions at amino acid positions 65–87 were shared within the same PLT-defined DP antigen groups, suggesting that these three hypervariable regions are recognized by cloned T cells in PLT, thus determining DP antigen specificity. On the basis of this model, 44 DPB 1 alleles can be classified into 18 antigen groups, each of which may possibly represent a PLT-defined single DP specificity.