The human gene pool has a "new member"! Chongqing researchers discovered a new allele for the first time and were named by the World Health Organization

On July 7, a reporter from Chongqing Daily learned from the Municipal Maternal and Child Health Hospital that Li Chunli, director of the hospital's blood transfusion department, and Zhang Tao, associate chief physician, discovered a new allele for the first time in the world. This allele was recently included by the World Health Organization and named HLA-DPB1*05:01:19, becoming a "new member" of the human gene pool.

It is understood that HLA refers to human leukocyte antigen, a glycoprotein present on the surface of white blood cells, also known as transplantation antigen.

"Everyone has HLA, but people's HLA is not the same. HLA is critical for organ transplantation. During transplantation, we require that the HLA between the donor and the recipient match as much as possible. If they do not match, transplant rejection is likely to occur." Zhang Tao introduced that in addition to being related to organ transplantation, HLA is also closely related to female reproductive system diseases such as cervical cancer and reproductive tract infections, as well as adverse pregnancies such as immune infertility and recurrent miscarriage. In recent years, it has become a research hotspot in reproductive health.

Zhang Tao said that last year, when they and researchers from the HLA laboratory of the Municipal Blood Center were conducting HLA typing on a hematopoietic stem cell donor, they found that the donor's HLA-DPB1 gene sequence was abnormal, which was confirmed to be a new allele after confirmation.

Li Chunli said that the discovery of this allele enriched the human gene pool, which can not only help patients find more suitable donors for organ and bone marrow transplantation, reduce the risk of rejection, and improve the success rate of transplantation. In the future, it is expected to help clarify the pathogenesis of certain diseases and find new therapeutic targets. It can also be applied to related research such as reproductive health, forensic identification, and human ethnic migration. (Chongqing Daily reporter Li Heng)