Objective: To identify a novel HLA-DRB1 allele in Chinese.
Methods: A novel HLA-DR allele was detected by PCR-SSP and SBT in a patient with leukemia.
Results: The sequence of the novel allele was different from all other known alleles. The novel allele differed from the closet matching allele HLA-DRB1*1404 by one nucleotide substitution in exon 2, at position 33 T>C, this resulted in an amino acid change from Tyr to His at codon 17.
Conclusion: The novel allele is confirmed as a new HLA allele and it was officially named HLA-DRB1*1461 by WHO Nomenclature Committee in May, 2006.