MICA∗078: A novel allele identified in a Moroccan individual affected by celiac disease

A novel MICA allele, MICA∗078, has been identified during HLA/MICA high resolution typing of Moroccan patients with celiac disease. MICA∗078 shows an uncommon variation at a highly conserved nucleotide position (nt 493, G → A), resulting in one amino acid change at codon 142 (V → I) of MICA gene (compared to MICA∗002:01), located in the α2-domain, in which V142 is the common residue.