Almost every cell in the human body contains proteins called HLA. The HLA region is highly polymorphic and contains six classical HLA genes: class I HLA-A, -B and –C, and class II HLA-DRB1, -DQB1 and –DPB1. An individual’s immune response to a foreign agent, such as a vaccine, drug or allergen, can be strongly influenced by their HLA tissue type
Using these proteins (markers), the immune system can identify which cells belong in your body and which do not. So the region is so important in many diseases and is the major cause of organ transplant rejections.
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has shown high cure rates for many malignant blood diseases like blood cancer. It is essential for successful transplant that a donor’s HLA markers closely match that of the patient. HLA typing helps match patients and donors specially for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and many patients struggle to find the right match as HLA proteins are diverse.
The solution to this problem is HLA donors’ registry banks with NGS-based High-Resolution High-Throughput HLA typing. Unrelated individuals with a matched HLA type can donate to patients. High-Resolution HLA typing is performed on the sample of all donors and the perfect match will be searched for in these banks whenever needed. The more people who register, the better the chances for patients who are waiting for their lifesaving match. As some types of HLA are found more commonly in certain racial and ethnic groups, it is important to have a diverse population of HLA types in the bank.
We at PioneerGenomics have developed the complete workflow (wet lab and dry lab) for NGS-based High-Resolution High-Throughput HLA typing, enabling us to help patients this way.
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing is used to match patients and donors for bone marrow or cord blood transplants. A close match between a donor’s and a patient’s HLA markers is essential for a successful transplant outcome. This test at PioneerGenomic is the NGS-based high resolution high throughput HLA typing for stem cells donors bank.
After donor and recipient are matched, it is mandatory to confirm the HLA types with a High-resolution methodology and ruling out CWD Null alleles. PioneerGenomic uses NGS technology for this test to reduce the level of ambiguities and is designed based on EFI and ASHI standards.
