HISTOCOMPATIBILITY
HISTOCOMPATIBILITY
HISTOCOMPATIBILITY AND IMMUNOGENETICS LABORATORY ADDS NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING
Histocompatibility testing is critical to the success of organ and stem cell transplantation . The human leukocyte antigen ( HLA ) Class I and Class II loci are fundamental to histocompatibility , but they are the most polymorphic genes in the human genome , and the ever-growing number of new HLA alleles creates significant challenges for histocompatibility laboratories .
“ I am very excited that we will be able to keep supporting all transplant programs at UAB , the Veterans Administration , and Children ’ s of Alabama at the highest quality level possible ,” says Vera Hauptfeld- Dolejsek , PhD , CSc , F ( ACHI ), director of the UAB Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory .
Given the complexity and high degree of allelic diversity , it has become increasingly difficult to characterize the classical transplantation antigens at high enough resolution by using existing , well-established methods . In response , the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute ’ s Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory recently acquired next-generation sequencing ( NGS ) technology , which allows determination of each HLA antigen at high-resolution , allele level , greatly reducing the likelihood of ambiguity in the sequence .
Bringing this technology into the lab allows UAB to perform typing for recipient / donor pairs in the Bone Marrow / Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Program at a higher resolution , to help ensure successful BM / HSC transplants and to comply with National Marrow Donor Program requirements .
We also plan to employ this method for solid organ transplant patients and living donors whenever possible , to gain knowledge of the full composition of HLA antigens and their individual significance in the rejection . The new technology is evolving rapidly , and while time constraints prevent us from being able to use NGS routinely in deceased donor-transplantation , the industry is developing a new method – nanopore DNA sequencing – which is expected to have a much shorter turnaround time . We are excited that we soon will be able to HLA type deceased donors at the highest resolution , for the best matching without prolonging cold ischemia time .
10 UAB CTI Report