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The Genotype List (GL) String grammar for reporting HLA and Killer-cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptor (KIR) genotypes in a text string was described in 2013. Since this initial description, GL Strings have been used to describe HLA and KIR genotypes for more than 40 million subjects, allowing these data to be recorded, stored and transmitted in an easily parsed, text-based format. After a decade of working with HLA and KIR data in GL String format, with advances in HLA and KIR genotyping technologies that have fostered the generation of full-gene sequence data, the need for an extension of the GL String system has become clear. Here, we introduce the new GL String delimiter "?," which addresses the need to describe ambiguity in assigning a gene sequence to gene paralogs. GL Strings that do not include a "?" delimiter continue to be interpreted as originally described. This extension represents version 1.1 of the GL String grammar., (© 2023 The Authors. HLA: Immune Response Genetics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The guidelines for the implementation and reporting of HLA nomenclature for the World Marrow Donor Association have served as a reliable standard for communication of HLA data in the hematopoietic cell transplantation process. Wider use of next-generation sequencing made a special provision of the guidelines increasingly pertinent: how to communicate novel HLA alleles. Novel alleles need to be recognized by the WHO Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA system to obtain official allele designations. Until then they have to be handled according to the specific rules. Leaving the actual rules basically unchanged we give some advice on how to communicate novel alleles to best facilitate the search process for cases where novel alleles are identified on donor or patient side., (© 2023 The Authors. HLA: Immune Response Genetics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Although HLA-DPB1 has long been considered of lesser importance in the selection of an unrelated donor (URD) hematologic stem cell transplantation, currently in many instances the DPB1 type of the donor is relevant or even critical. At present, however, only a minority of registry donors are DPB1 typed. It is also unclear to what extent the DPB1 alleles are linked to the 5-locus HLA-A-, B-, C-, DRB1, -DQB1 haplotypes. We sought to study whether there is such a linkage by using donors in the Finnish Stem Cell Registry as the study population. The 6-locus HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DQB1, -DPB1 haplotype frequencies were estimated from a group of 43,365 Finnish registry donors using the German National Bone Marrow Registry algorithm. Five-locus haplotype (HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DQB1) and HLA-DPB1 allele frequencies were calculated as marginal frequencies of the estimated 6-locus haplotype frequencies. The Finnish average frequency of individual DPB1 alleles was compared with their respective frequencies in association with individual 5-locus HLA haplotypes (haplotype-specific frequencies). Finally, the probability of DPB1 matching in 10/10 matched URD transplants was assessed. Haplotype-specific DPB1 frequencies differed significantly from the average DPB1 frequencies in 81 of 100 most frequent Finnish 5-locus HLA haplotypes, including some infrequent DPB1 alleles that were associated almost exclusively with certain individual 5-locus haplotypes. Five-locus haplotypes that are enriched in Finland but rare among other Europeans carried stronger DPB1 associations than haplotypes that are frequent European-wide. Finally, 10/10 matched transplants from domestic registry donors were significantly more likely to also be DPB1 matched than those from foreign donors. The results indicate an extension of linkage disequilibrium in the MHC complex in the Finnish population. With continuing upfront DPB1 typing of registry donors, it will be possible to perform similar extended 6-locus haplotype frequency estimations also in other registries. The associations are likely to be population specific but may be weaker in more heterogeneous populations. In the future the results might be used to predict the probability of DPB1 match or permissive/nonpermissive DPB1 mismatch for non-DPB1 typed donors in registry donor searches., (Copyright © 2019 American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We present a catalog of common and well-documented (CWD) alleles of the German population for the six HLA loci A, B, C, DRB1, DQB1, and DPB1. This study is based on a sample of over 5 million volunteer adult hematopoietic stem cell donors from the 26 German donor centers. To establish the catalog, allele and haplotype frequencies were estimated with a validated implementation of the expectation-maximization algorithm. CWD criteria similar to existing CWD catalogs were applied in order to be able to put our findings into the context of relevant existing references. Overall, 2155 HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DQB1, and -DPB1 alleles were identified as CWD in the German donor population representing about 20% of the HLA alleles at two-field resolution in the IPD-IMGT/HLA Database release v3.25.0 from July 2016 for these six loci. We found a substantial concordance of CWD alleles between the three catalogs and showed the contribution of the German donor population to the CWD alleles domain. In conclusion, the definition of CWD criteria that allow interoperability, scalability, and flexibility will be crucial for the development of a worldwide CWD catalog., (© 2018 The Authors. HLA published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Europeans have often been considered a homogenous group in registry donor match predictions, but it is now evident that HLA haplotype frequencies vary across the European continent. Earlier studies have indicated that Finns in northeastern Europe have unique HLA characteristics, and the increasing availability of high-resolution registry donor data is now making more detailed comparisons possible. In the first phase of the present study, estimated HLA haplotype frequencies in stem cell donor registries of Finland and its neighbors Sweden and Russia were calculated using the algorithm of the German National Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ZKRD) and their frequencies were compared with one another and also with that of Germany. Virtual donor searches for 1492 high-resolution typed Finnish patients in the Finnish, Swedish and German registries were then performed, using individual match predictions for each registry. In the last phase, the impact of specifically Finnish-enriched HLA haplotypes on Finnish patients and the use of Finnish registry donors was assessed by analyzing 647 consecutive hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) donor searches and 40 exported Finnish HSCTs. The Finnish HLA landscape was more homogenous than the 3 other studied populations, but also genetically distinct from them. The match predictions found a probable 10/10 match for 71%, 41%, and 31% of the Finnish patients in the German, Finnish, and Swedish registries, respectively. Thirty-four of Finland's 100 most frequent HLA haplotypes were represented with a frequency of <.0003 in Germany, and with an 8- to 3262-fold greater frequency in Finland than in Germany. Patients carrying these Finnish-enriched haplotypes were less likely to receive a matched HSCT but more likely to receive it from a domestic donor. Registry donors carrying them were more likely to donate stem cells, both nationally and internationally. The Finnish HLA isolate has a significant impact on both Finnish patients and registry donors, explaining the high use of national registry donors for Finnish patients. Haplotype frequency estimations are an important tool for small registries as well, to help optimize donor match predictions and the size of individual registries., (Copyright © 2017 The American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Study Objectives: Narcolepsy with cataplexy is tightly associated with the HLA class II allele DQB1*06:02. Evidence indicates a complex contribution of HLA class II genes to narcolepsy susceptibility with a recent independent association with HLA-DPB1. The cause of narcolepsy is supposed be an autoimmune attack against hypocretin-producing neurons. Despite the strong association with HLA class II, there is no evidence for CD4+ T-cell-mediated mechanism in narcolepsy. Since neurons express class I and not class II molecules, the final effector immune cells involved might include class I-restricted CD8+ T-cells., Methods: HLA class I (A, B, and C) and II (DQB1) genotypes were analyzed in 944 European narcolepsy with cataplexy patients and in 4,043 control subjects matched by country of origin. All patients and controls were DQB1*06:02 positive and class I associations were conditioned on DQB1 alleles., Results: HLA-A*11:01 (OR = 1.49 [1.18-1.87] P = 7.0*10(-4)), C*04:01 (OR = 1.34 [1.10-1.63] P = 3.23*10(-3)), and B*35:01 (OR = 1.46 [1.13-1.89] P = 3.64*10(-3)) were associated with susceptibility to narcolepsy. Analysis of polymorphic class I amino-acids revealed even stronger associations with key antigen-binding residues HLA-A-Tyr(9) (OR = 1.32 [1.15-1.52] P = 6.95*10(-5)) and HLA-C-Ser(11) (OR = 1.34 [1.15-1.57] P = 2.43*10(-4))., Conclusions: Our findings provide a genetic basis for increased susceptibility to infectious factors or an immune cytotoxic mechanism in narcolepsy, potentially targeting hypocretin neurons., (© 2016 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.)

The degree of HLA concordance with the patient has long been known to be the major donor-related prediction factor for the success of hematopoietic stem cell transplantations and, with the progress of HLA typing technology, selection criteria became more stringent with regard to the recommended loci and resolution. A late refinement was HLA-C matching, which gained broader acceptance only after the turn of the millennium. The enormous HLA polymorphism has always necessitated registries with a large number of donors in order to be able to provide well-matched donors to a substantial fraction of patients. Using a biostatistical approach, we investigated the impact of adding HLA-C at low or high resolution as a supplementary matching criterion on some key parameters in donor provision for a European-Caucasian population. Starting point is donor selection based on allele level matching for HLA-A, -B, -DRB1, and, optionally, HLA-DQB1. Without typing for HLA-C, 68% of the donors selected based on matching for HLA-A, -B, -DRB1, and -DQB1 at high resolution will also match for HLA-C, 29% will have a single and only 3% will have two HLA-C alleles different from the patient. In order to provide the same fraction of patients with a fully matched donor, a registry would have to be about twice the size if HLA-C is considered in addition to the four other loci, with the exact factor increasing with the registry's size. If the provision of donors with up to a single allele mismatch is considered, this factor doubles due to the strong linkage between HLA-B and -C. These figures only change slightly when HLA-DQB1 is completely ignored or HLA-C matching is only considered at low resolution. Our results contribute to quantifying the medical and economic impact of the progress in donor selection algorithms.

Study Objective: Prior research has identified five common genetic variants associated with narcolepsy with cataplexy in Caucasian patients. To replicate and/or extend these findings, we have tested HLA-DQB1, the previously identified 5 variants, and 10 other potential variants in a large European sample of narcolepsy with cataplexy subjects., Design: Retrospective case-control study., Setting: A recent study showed that over 76% of significant genome-wide association variants lie within DNase I hypersensitive sites (DHSs). From our previous GWAS, we identified 30 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with P < 10(-4) mapping to DHSs. Ten SNPs tagging these sites, HLADQB1, and all previously reported SNPs significantly associated with narcolepsy were tested for replication., Patients and Participants: For GWAS, 1,261 narcolepsy patients and 1,422 HLA-DQB1*06:02-matched controls were included. For HLA study, 1,218 patients and 3,541 controls were included., Measurements and Results: None of the top variants within DHSs were replicated. Out of the five previously reported SNPs, only rs2858884 within the HLA region (P < 2x10(-9)) and rs1154155 within the TRA locus (P < 2x10(-8)) replicated. DQB1 typing confirmed that DQB1*06:02 confers an extraordinary risk (odds ratio 251). Four protective alleles (DQB1*06:03, odds ratio 0.17, DQB1*05:01, odds ratio 0.56, DQB1*06:09 odds ratio 0.21, DQB1*02 odds ratio 0.76) were also identified., Conclusion: An overwhelming portion of genetic risk for narcolepsy with cataplexy is found at DQB1 locus. Since DQB1*06:02 positive subjects are at 251-fold increase in risk for narcolepsy, and all recent cases of narcolepsy after H1N1 vaccination are positive for this allele, DQB1 genotyping may be relevant to public health policy.