Identification of Two Novel HLA-C Alleles, Cw*070105 and Cw*1408, from East African Women

HLA-C was shown to be a highly polymorphic gene that can be accurately typed by sequencing methodologies. We report two novel HLA-C alleles identified during sequence-based typing of East African populations; the novel alleles were confirmed by sequencing two separate polymerase chain reaction products and by molecular cloning and sequencing multiple clones. The first new allele is identical to Cw*0701 except for a single-nucleotide synonymous substitution at codon 182 (GCA→GCG). The new allele has been named by the WHO nomenclature committee as Cw*070105. The second new allele is identical to Cw*1403 except for a nonsynonomous change at codon 21 (CAC→CGC), changed from histidine to arginine. The new allele has been named by the WHO nomenclature committee as Cw*1408.