Three new human hereditary genes among Chinese people have been discovered by the Shenzhen Institute of Transfusion Medicine and formally named by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to a scientific research appraisal meeting held recently in Shenzhen of South China’s Guangdong Province. The discovery will effectively improve the survival rate of China’s bone marrow and organ transplant.
The newly-discovered genes are the allelic genes of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA). HLA actually is one of the human blood types. It is just more complicated than the ABO blood types we usually know. ABO blood types play a very important role in transfusion. If the blood types do not match, it will lead to transfusion reaction, or a sort of rejection by the body. HLA, also called histicompatibility antigen, is closely connected with the bone marrow and organ transplant. Rejection will occur if the HLA is not compatible during the hetero-transplantation. Therefore, the suppliers selected through HLA type will reduce the danger of acute rejection during a transplantation.
To improve the accuracy of the test of HLA type, the discovery and appraisal of the allelic genes in a certain group of people has become the focus and a subject of competition in the international research circles. Today, when bone marrow and organ transplant is becoming increasingly popular in China, a large number of bone marrow and organ suppliers need to have their HLA type identified. So, it is extremely important to test and determine the special HLA genes among Chinese people.
It took two years for the Shenzhen Institute of Transfusion Medicine to finish this research program. Scientists selected 5,000 samples from random suppliers and found three abnormal samples among the nearly 500,000 results. A further gene sequencing analysis shows that these were undiscovered new genes. The three new HLA genes have been formally named HLA-A*0253N, HLA-A*1114, HLA-B*5610 and publicized to the world by the WHO. Meanwhile, the three Chinese with the three new genes have been identified as SZ-1, SZ-2 and SZ-3 (Shenzhen-1, Shenzhen-2, and Shenzhen-3) by the WHO.
Among the three new HLA allelic genes, two were discovered in healthy people, another was from a patient who suffers congenital lack of gamma globulin. Among the family’s 21 members of three generations, the particular gene is also found in his mother, sister, grandpa on the mother’s side and two cousins of his mother.
(china.org.cn by Wang Qian December 12, 2002)
