A new human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B allele was found during routine typing of samples for a German unrelated bone marrow donor registry, the "Aktion Knochenmarkspende Bayern". After first interpretation of data of two independent low-resolution sequence-specific oligonucleotide typing tests, a B*51 variant was suggested. Further analysis via sequence-based typing identified the sequence as new B*52 allele. This new allele officially assigned as B*5206 differs from HLA-B*520102 by one nucleotide exchange in exon 2. The mutation is located at nucleotide position 274, at which a cytosine is substituted by a thymine leading to an amino acid change at protein position 67 from serine (TCC) to phenylalanine (TTC).

Here, we report the identification of a new human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B*44 allele found almost simultaneous in three DNA samples which were part of routine bone marrow donor typing by order of the German registry 'Aktion Knochenmarkspende Bayern'. The samples appeared noticeable in different polymerase chain reactions using sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) or sequence-specific oligonucleotides (PCR-SSO). Sequence-based typing revealed a novel allele officially designated as B*4441*. This sequence differs from HLA-B*44020101/4427 by two nucleotide positions at the beginning of exon 3: by position 353 (T to C) and by position 355 (A to C). These differences in sequence result in deviant amino acids at codon 94 (Ile94Thr) and codon 95 (Ile95Leu).