Associations of human leukocyte antigen-G with resistance and susceptibility to HIV-1 infection in the Pumwani sex worker cohort.

Objective: To determine the association between human leukocyte antigens (HLA)-G genotypes and resistance or susceptibility to HIV-1.

Design: A group of sex workers in Pumwani, Kenya can be epidemiologically defined as resistant to HIV-1 infection despite frequent exposure and provide an example of natural protective immunity. HLA class I and II molecules have been shown to be associated with resistance/susceptibility to infection in this cohort.

Identification of novel human leukocyte antigen G alleles in an East African population by high-resolution sequence-based typing.

We report two novel human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) alleles identified in an East African population during sequence-based typing of HLA-G. The novel alleles were confirmed by sequencing multiple polymerase chain reaction products and molecular cloning and subsequent sequencing of multiple clones. The sequence of HLA-G*0110 (EU290672) is identical to G*01010101/01010102/01010103/01010104/01010105 at exons 2, 3, and 4 except for a single nucleotide difference at codon 31 (ACG --> ATG), resulting in a coding change from threonine to methionine.