The WHO Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System has met several times since the publication of the last major report in 2010. 1 It met most recently in September 2023, to discuss additions to the serological defined HLA antigens. This report documents the additions and revisions to the nomenclature of HLA specificities following the principles established in previous reports. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 Links to these reports and details of HLA Nomenclature can be found on the website: hla.alleles.org
1. Naming of HLA genes and alleles
The HLA‐OLI pseudogene has been reported and officially named HLA‐R. A full list of all recognised HLA genes is given in Table 1. 20
TABLE 1.
Names for genes in the HLA region.
| Name a | Previous equivalents | Molecular characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| HLA‐A | — | Class I α‐chain |
| HLA‐B | — | Class I α‐chain |
| HLA‐C | — | Class I α‐chain |
| HLA‐E | E, ‘6.2’ | Associated with class I 6.2‐kB Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐F | F, ‘5.4’ | Associated with class I 5.4‐kB Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐G | G, ‘6.0’ | Associated with class I 6.0‐kB Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐H | H, AR, ‘12.4’, HLA‐54 | Class I pseudogene associated with 5.4‐kB Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐J | cda12, HLA‐59 | Class I pseudogene associated with 5.9‐kB Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐K | HLA‐70 | Class I pseudogene associated with 7.0‐kB Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐L | HLA‐92 | Class I pseudogene associated with 9.2‐kB Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐N | HLA‐30 | Class I gene fragment associated with 1.7 kb Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐P | HLA‐90 | Class I gene fragment associated with 9.0‐kB Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐R | HLA‐OLI | Class I pseudogene |
| HLA‐S | HLA‐17 | Class I gene fragment associated with a 3.0 kb Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐T | HLA‐16 | Class I gene fragment associated with 16.0‐kB Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐U | HLA‐21 | Class I gene fragment associated with 2.1‐kB Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐V | HLA‐75 | Class I gene fragment associated with 7.5‐kB Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐W | HLA‐80 | Class I gene fragment associated with 8.0‐kB Hind III fragment |
| HLA‐X | HLA‐X | Class I gene fragment |
| HLA‐Y | HLA‐BEL/COQ/DEL | Class I gene fragment |
| HLA‐Z | HLA‐Z1 | Class I gene fragment located within the HLA Class II region |
| HLA‐DRA | DRα | DR α chain |
| HLA‐DRB1 | DRβI, DR1B | DR β1 chain determining specificities DR1, DR2, DR3, DR4, DR5 etc |
| HLA‐DRB2 | DRβII | Pseudogene with DR β‐like sequences |
| HLA‐DRB3 | DRβIII, DR3B | DR β3 chain determining DR52 and Dw24, Dw25, Dw26 specificities |
| HLA‐DRB4 | DRβIV, DR4B | DR β4 chain determining DR53 |
| HLA‐DRB5 | DRβIII | DR β5 chain determining DR51 |
| HLA‐DRB6 | DRBX, DRBσ | DRB pseudogene found on DR1, DR2 and DR10 haplotypes |
| HLA‐DRB7 | DRBψ1 | DRB pseudogene found on DR4, DR7 and DR9 haplotypes |
| HLA‐DRB8 | DRBψ2 | DRB pseudogene found on DR4, DR7 and DR9 haplotypes |
| HLA‐DRB9 | M4.2 βexon | DRB pseudogene, isolated fragment |
| HLA‐DQA1 | DQα1, DQ1A | DQ α chain |
| HLA‐DQB1 | DQβ1, DQ1B | DQ β chain |
| HLA‐DQA2 | DXα, DQ2A | DQ α‐chain‐related sequence, not known to be expressed |
| HLA‐DQB2 | DXβ, DQ2B | DQ β‐chain‐related sequence, not known to be expressed |
| HLA‐DQB3 | DVβ, DQB3 | DQ β‐chain‐related sequence, not known to be expressed |
| HLA‐DOA | DNA, DZα, DOα | DO α chain |
| HLA‐DOB | DOβ | DO β chain |
| HLA‐DMA | RING6 | DM α chain |
| HLA‐DMB | RING7 | DM β chain |
| HLA‐DPA1 | DPα1, DP1A | DP α chain |
| HLA‐DPB1 | DPβ1, DP1B | DP β chain |
| HLA‐DPA2 | DPα2, DP2A | DP α‐chain‐related pseudogene |
| HLA‐DPA3 | DPA3 | DP α‐chain‐related pseudogene |
| HLA‐DPB2 | DPβ2, DP2B | DP β‐chain‐related pseudogene |
| TAP1 | ABCB2, RING4, Y3, PSF1 | ABC (ATP Binding Cassette) transporter |
| TAP2 | ABCB3, RING11, Y1, PSF2 | ABC (ATP Binding Cassette) transporter |
| PSMB9 | LMP2, RING12 | Proteasome‐related sequence |
| PSMB8 | LMP7, RING10 | Proteasome‐related sequence |
| MICA | MICA, PERB11.1 | Class I chain‐related gene |
| MICB | MICB, PERB11.2 | Class I chain‐related gene |
| MICC | MICC, PERB11.3 | Class I chain‐related pseudogene |
| MICD | MICD, PERB11.4 | Class I chain‐related pseudogene |
| MICE | MICE, PERB11.5 | Class I chain‐related pseudogene |
| HFE | HFE1 | Homeostatic iron regulator gene |
Gene names given in bold type have been assigned since the 2010 Nomenclature report.
1.1. Conditions for acceptance of new allele sequences
As emphasised in previous reports, there are required conditions for acceptance of new sequences for official names.
Where a sequence is obtained from cDNA, or where PCR products are subcloned prior to sequencing, several clones should have been sequenced.
Sanger sequencing should always be performed in both directions.
If direct sequencing of PCR amplified material is performed, products from at least two separate PCR reactions should have been sequenced.
When using next‐generation or third generation sequencing, the unequivocal phasing of all polymorphisms should be confirmed across the complete sequence.
In individuals who are heterozygous for a locus, and where one of the alleles is novel, the novel allele must be sequenced in isolation from the second allele. Thus an allele sequence that is derived using a Sanger Sequencing‐Based Typing (SBT) methodology, where both alleles of a heterozygous individual are sequenced together, is insufficient evidence for assignment of an official designation.
Sequence derived solely from the primers used to amplify an allele should not be included in the submitted sequence.
A novel sequence should be confirmed by repeat sequencing or employing a secondary DNA based typing technique to confirm the sequence.
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An accession number in a databank should have been obtained. Sequences may be submitted to the databases online at the following addresses:
Full‐length sequences are preferable, though not essential; the current minimum requirements are complete exons 2 and 3 for an HLA class I sequence and complete exon 2 for an HLA class II sequence. It is anticipated that we will move to requiring full‐length sequences in the near future and every effort should be made to submit full‐length sequences, as sequencing technology has improved substantially and makes this very achievable.
Where a novel sequence differs only within an intron or other non‐coding part of the gene, a full‐length sequence must be obtained that covers all coding and non‐coding regions. In the absence of a full‐length genomic sequence from the most closely related allele, it may be required that this also be sequenced and submitted before a name can be assigned to the novel sequence.
Sequences should be submitted for naming prior to publication and details of the official names assigned included in the manuscripts published subsequently.
Sequences derived solely from tumour material will not be considered for assignment of official allele nomenclature.
Sequences derived from patients with malignant haematological disease should confirmed to be in the germline of the patient, using DNA derived from non‐haematopoietic tissue, or in first degree relatives with the same allele.
The complete HLA phenotype for the HLA‐A, ‐B, ‐C and ‐DRB1 genes, with at least two‐field resolution, should be submitted for the material in which a novel allele has been defined. In addition, the sample should have been characterised for the second allele at the locus of interest in a heterozygous individual, to the same level of resolution as that obtained for the novel allele.
DNA or other material, preferably cell lines, should, wherever possible, be made available in a publicly accessible repository or, alternatively, at least in the originating laboratory. Documentation on this will be maintained by the WHO Nomenclature Committee.
Submission of a sequence to the WHO Nomenclature Committee should be performed using the online submission tool available at www.ebi.ac.uk/ipd/imgt/hla/submission/. Researchers are expected to complete a questionnaire relating to the sequence and provide a comparison of their new sequence with known related alleles. If the sequence cannot be submitted using the online web tools, researchers should contact ipdsubs@anthonynolan.org directly for details of alternative submission methods.
Although at present it is only a recommendation that full‐length sequences of the coding region of novel alleles be submitted, it was widely felt that in the future this should become a requirement for submission. Such requirement would remove many of the currently encountered ambiguities in the assignment of names to alleles for which partial sequences have been submitted and should not be burdensome as sequencing techniques have improved substantially since the submission conditions were first devised. In cases where novel mutations or polymorphisms are detected in non‐coding regions of the gene, it will be a requirement that full‐length sequences be submitted of both the novel allele and its most closely related allele.
It should be noted with some caution that cells from which only partial sequences have been obtained may later be shown to have different or novel alleles when further sequencing is performed. This is of particular importance in cases where partial sequences of what appears to be the same allele have been obtained from several different cells. In such cases, all cells studied have been listed in this report.
The list of those genes in the HLA region considered by the WHO Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System is given in Table 1.
1.2. New Allele Sequences
Current practice is that official designations will be promptly assigned to newly described alleles in periods between Nomenclature Committee meetings, provided that the submitted data and its accompanying description meet the criteria outlined above. A list of the newly reported alleles is published every three months in nomenclature updates in the journals HLA, Human Immunology and the International Journal of Immunogenetics. The listing of references to new sequences does not imply priority of publication. The use of numbers or names for alleles, genes or specificities which pre‐empt assignment of official designations by the Nomenclature Committee is strongly discouraged.
A total of 43,758 HLA alleles have been named as of December 2025. A complete listing of the numbers of alleles assigned for each HLA genes is given in Table 2.
TABLE 2.
Number of HLA alleles for each HLA gene as of December 2025.
| Gene | Number of alleles | |
|---|---|---|
| HLA class I genes | HLA‐A | 9,022 |
| HLA‐B | 10,876 | |
| HLA‐C | 9,031 | |
| HLA‐E | 388 | |
| HLA‐F | 132 | |
| HLA‐G | 197 | |
| HLA‐H | 106 | |
| HLA‐J | 34 | |
| HLA‐K | 7 | |
| HLA‐L | 6 | |
| HLA‐N | 5 | |
| HLA‐P | 5 | |
| HLA‐R | 2 | |
| HLA‐S | 7 | |
| HLA‐T | 9 | |
| HLA‐U | 7 | |
| HLA‐V | 4 | |
| HLA‐W | 13 | |
| HLA‐Y | 3 | |
| HLA class II genes | HLA‐DRA | 129 |
| HLA‐DRB1 | 3,924 | |
| HLA‐DRB2 | 1 | |
| HLA‐DRB3 | 661 | |
| HLA‐DRB4 | 341 | |
| HLA‐DRB5 | 255 | |
| HLA‐DRB6 | 4 | |
| HLA‐DRB7 | 2 | |
| HLA‐DRB8 | 1 | |
| HLA‐DRB9 | 6 | |
| HLA‐DQA1 | 994 | |
| HLA‐DQA2 | 42 | |
| HLA‐DQB1 | 3,022 | |
| HLA‐DQB2 | 41 | |
| HLA‐DPA1 | 897 | |
| HLA‐DPA2 | 6 | |
| HLA‐DPB1 | 3,075 | |
| HLA‐DPB2 | 7 | |
| HLA‐DMA | 92 | |
| HLA‐DMB | 142 | |
| HLA‐DOA | 153 | |
| HLA‐DOB | 109 | |
| Non‐HLA genes | TAP1 | 19 |
| TAP2 | 106 | |
| MICA | 659 | |
| MICB | 328 | |
| HFE | 6 |
2. HLA Antigen and Associated Antigen Designations
In September 2023, the WHO Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System met at the Stanford Blood Center located at Stanford University following the 18th International HLA and Immunogenetics Workshop held in Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands in May 2022. The committee met to evaluate a proposal for the definition of additional and novel antigens defined in silico 21 . The in silico definition of HLA antigens was achieved by the systematic examination and cataloguing the amino acid (AA) replacements at specific residues determining epitopes (DEP) in all common HLA alleles at the classical HLA class I and class II loci [Common and Well Documented (CWD2.0) for alleles of HLA‐DRB3, ‐DRB4, ‐DRB5, ‐DQA1 and ‐DPA1 and Common, Intermediate and Well Documented (CIWD3.0) for alleles of HLA‐A, ‐B, ‐C, ‐DRB1, ‐DQB1 and ‐DPB1]. 21 , 22 , 23 The committee voted to accept the proposed serologic nomenclature update provided that a validation study was conducted.
The manuscript aiming to confirm these computationally predicted antigens defined by DEP residues for the 11 HLA loci was designed to assess and compare the antibody reactivity of patients' sera in solid phase assays with Single Antigen Bead (SAB) preparations from various HLA proteins 24 . The differences in correlation confirmed the distinctions between proposed associated antigens and identified a few additional antigens. 21 , 25
2.1. HLA Antigen Designations
Following these studies a number of new HLA class I and class II serological specificities have now been named.
The HLA‐C proteins that were previously listed as blanks have been designated; HLA‐Cw12, ‐Cw14, ‐Cw15, ‐Cw16, ‐Cw17 and ‐Cw18.
The serologic specificities for antigens encoded by the HLA‐DQA1 ‐DPA1 and ‐DPB1 genes were designated using DQA, DPA and DPB followed by the first‐field allele name of the prototype common protein. For example, DQA01, DPA01 and DPB01, with the exception of DPB0201, DPB0202, DPB0401 and DPB0402, which are represented by their two‐field designation. The HLA‐DQ specificities named to date, HLA‐DQ1 to ‐DQ9 are characterised by epitopes encoded on the HLA‐DQB1 chain gene.
A full listing of all the serological specificities for HLA‐A, ‐B, ‐C, ‐DR, ‐DQ, and ‐DP and cellular defined specificities for HLA‐Dw and HLA‐DPw are given in Table 3.
TABLE 3.
List of all recognised serological and cellular HLA specificities.
| HLA‐A | HLA‐B | HLA‐C | HLA‐D a | HLA‐DR | HLA‐DQA | HLA‐DQB | HLA‐DP a | HLA‐DPA | HLA‐DPB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | B5 | Cw1 | Dw1 | DR1 | DQA01 | DQ1 | DPw1 | DPA01 | DPB01 |
| A2 | B7 | Cw2 | Dw2 | DR2 | DQA02 | DQ2 | DPw2 | DPA02 | DPB0201 |
| A3 | B8 | Cw3 | Dw3 | DR3 | DQA03 | DQ3 | DPw3 | DPB0202 | |
| A9 | B12 | Cw4 | Dw4 | DR4 | DQA04 | DQ4 | DPw4 | DPB03 | |
| A10 | B13 | Cw5 | Dw5 | DR5 | DQA05 | DQ5(1) | DPw5 | DPB0401 | |
| A11 | B14 | Cw6 | Dw6 | DR6 | DQA06 | DQ6(1) | DPw6 | DPB0402 | |
| A19 | B15 | Cw7 | Dw7 | DR7 | DQ7(3) | DPB06 | |||
| A23(9) | B16 | Cw8 | Dw8 | DR8 | DQ8(3) | DPB10 | |||
| A24(9) | B17 | Cw9(w3) | Dw9 | DR9 | DQ9(3) | DPB13 | |||
| A25(10) | B18 | Cw10(w3) | Dw10 | DR10 | DPB15 | ||||
| A26(10) | B21 | Cw12 | Dw11(w7) | DR11(5) | DPB17 | ||||
| A28 | B22 | Cw14 | Dw12 | DR12(5) | DPB18 | ||||
| A29(19) | B27 | Cw15 | Dw13 | DR13(6) | DPB30 | ||||
| A30(19) | B35 | Cw16 | Dw14 | DR14(6) | DPB31 | ||||
| A31(19) | B37 | Cw17 | Dw15 | DR15(2) | DPB45 | ||||
| A32(19) | B38(16) | Cw18 | Dw16 | DR16(2) | DPB46 | ||||
| A33(19) | B39(16) | Dw17(w7) | DR17(3) | DPB80 | |||||
| A34(10) | B40 | Dw18(w6) | DR18(3) | ||||||
| A36 | B41 | Dw19(w6) | |||||||
| A43 | B42 | Dw20 | DR51 | ||||||
| A66(10) | B44(12) | Dw21 | DR52 | ||||||
| A68(28) | B45(12) | Dw22 | DR53 | ||||||
| A69(28) | B46 | Dw23 | |||||||
| A74(19) | B47 | Dw24 | |||||||
| A80 | B48 | Dw25 | |||||||
| B49(21) | Dw26 | ||||||||
| B50(21) | |||||||||
| B51(5) | |||||||||
| B52(5) | |||||||||
| B53 | |||||||||
| B54(22) | |||||||||
| B55(22) | |||||||||
| B56(22) | |||||||||
| B57(17) | |||||||||
| B58(17) | |||||||||
| B59 | |||||||||
| B60(40) | |||||||||
| B61(40) | |||||||||
| B62(15) | |||||||||
| B63(15) | |||||||||
| B64(14) | |||||||||
| B65(14) | |||||||||
| B67 | |||||||||
| B70 | |||||||||
| B71(70) | |||||||||
| B72(70) | |||||||||
| B73 | |||||||||
| B75(15) | |||||||||
| B76(15) | |||||||||
| B77(15) | |||||||||
| B78 | |||||||||
| B81 | |||||||||
| B82 | |||||||||
| Bw4 | |||||||||
| Bw6 |
Antigens given in bold type have been assigned since the 2010 Nomenclature report.
Cellularly defined specificities.
2.2. HLA Associated Antigen Designations
The concept of an HLA Associated Antigen was introduced in 1991, with the understanding that serological types would be more closely associated with the allele sequence defining them. Thirteen associated antigens were named at this time: A203, A210, A2403, B703, B3901, B3902, B4005, B5102, B5103, B7801, DR103, DR1403, and DR1404. 12 In 1996 the B2708 associated antigen was named and it was decided to shorten the B7801 antigen name to B78. 15 Following the definition of novel associated antigens documented below, it has been necessary to update the names of four of these: A203, A210, B703, and DR103, have been updated to A0203, A0210, B0703, and DR0103.
An expanded designation of novel Associated Antigens for the HLA‐A, ‐B, ‐C, ‐DRB1, ‐DRB3, ‐DRB4 and ‐DRB5 genes are included in this nomenclature report. Associated Antigens were assigned systematically in a complementary manner to all common serologically distinguishable common antigen variants corresponding to a parent antigen or split.
The serologic specificities for HLA‐A, ‐B, ‐C and ‐DRB1 were designated using the locus name followed by the corresponding two‐field allele name excluding the colon (:) symbol of the most common or lowest‐digit prototype allele, as was defined previously, for example A0201 corresponds to the A*02:01 allele.
Novel Associated Antigens for the HLA‐DRB5 and ‐DRB3 genes were assigned with the DR51 and DR52 name respectively followed by the first field of the most common prototype protein (e.g., DR5101 for DRB5*01:01). Associated Antigen designations for less common proteins follow with a consecutive number designation (e.g., DR5103 for the protein DRB5*01:03).
No Associated Antigen Name was assigned to HLA antigens with only one DEP prototype (e.g., HLA‐A1 and ‐DR53 do not have any Associated Antigen designation).
At this time no additional Associated Antigen designations were made for antigens corresponding to HLA‐DQB1.
Associated Antigen designations were made only for proteins presenting identical amino acid replacements to those identified in the prototype protein at all DEP residues. For alleles lacking an Antigen or Associated Antigen serological designation, tables listing the officially recognised HLA antigens displaying the closest DEP correlation will be included in releases of the IPD‐IMGT/HLA Database (www.ebi.ac.uk/ipd/imgt/hla). 26 , 27 , 28
A full listing of all the Associated Antigens for HLA‐A, ‐B, ‐C, −and ‐DR are given in Table 4.
TABLE 4.
List of all recognised HLA associated antigens.
| HLA‐A a | HLA‐B a | HLA‐C | HLA‐DR a |
|---|---|---|---|
| A0201 | B0702 | Cw0304 | DR0101 |
| A0202 | B0703 | Cw0307 | DR0103 |
| A0203 | B0710 | Cw0308 | DR0401 |
| A0208 | B0712 | Cw0401 | DR0402 |
| A0210 | B0713 | Cw0403 | DR0403 |
| A0211 | B0715 | Cw0408 | DR0412 |
| A0216 | B0736 | Cw0410 | DR0415 |
| A0218 | B0801 | Cw0427 | DR0801 |
| A0219 | B0802 | Cw0501 | DR0803 |
| A0220 | B1501 | Cw0509 | DR0808 |
| A0244 | B1502 | Cw0602 | DR0818 |
| A0246 | B1503 | Cw0608 | DR1101 |
| A0256 | B1510 | Cw0627 | DR1102 |
| A0265 | B1511 | Cw0701 | DR1103 |
| A0285 | B1516 | Cw0702 | DR1105 |
| A0301 | B1517 | Cw0704 | DR1107 |
| A0305 | B1520 | Cw0707 | DR1108 |
| A0323 | B1523 | Cw0717 | DR1117 |
| A2301 | B1524 | Cw0801 | DR1201 |
| A2304 | B1529 | Cw0802 | DR1202 |
| A2402 | B1537 | Cw0803 | DR1301 |
| A2403 | B1538 | Cw0806 | DR1303 |
| A2404 | B1540 | Cw0810 | DR1305 |
| A2405 | B1542 | Cw1202 | DR1317 |
| A2408 | B1547 | Cw1204 | DR1339 |
| A2410 | B1548 | Cw1212 | DR1343 |
| A2414 | B1552 | Cw1502 | DR1401 |
| A2423 | B1801 | Cw1507 | DR1402 |
| A2424 | B1805 | Cw1601 | DR1403 |
| A2601 | B1806 | Cw1602 | DR1404 |
| A2603 | B1809 | DR1405 | |
| A2607 | B2705 | DR1410 | |
| A2614 | B2708 | DR1411 | |
| A2901 | B2712 | DR1414 | |
| A2902 | B2714 | DR1419 | |
| A3001 | B3501 | DR1422 | |
| A3002 | B3502 | DR1424 | |
| A3007 | B3510 | DR1448 | |
| A3101 | B3512 | DR1501 | |
| A3102 | B3515 | DR1504 | |
| A3201 | B3516 | DR1601 | |
| A3204 | B3519 | DR1602 | |
| A3301 | B3520 | ||
| A3303 | B3521 | DR5101 | |
| A3308 | B3528 | DR5102 | |
| A3313 | B3531 | DR5103 | |
| A3401 | B3701 | DR5201 | |
| A3402 | B3702 | DR5202 | |
| A6601 | B3704 | DR5203 | |
| A6602 | B3705 | ||
| A6801 | B3801 | ||
| A6810 | B3803 | ||
| A6813 | B3806 | ||
| A6836 | B3901 | ||
| B3902 | |||
| B3910 | |||
| B4001 | |||
| B4002 | |||
| B4004 | |||
| B4005 | |||
| B4008 | |||
| B4013 | |||
| B4016 | |||
| B4021 | |||
| B4023 | |||
| B4047 | |||
| B4402 | |||
| B4404 | |||
| B4406 | |||
| B4408 | |||
| B4410 | |||
| B4429 | |||
| B4701 | |||
| B4801 | |||
| B4802 | |||
| B4804 | |||
| B4805 | |||
| B5101 | |||
| B5102 | |||
| B5103 | |||
| B5107 | |||
| B5119 | |||
| B5501 | |||
| B5504 | |||
| B5601 | |||
| B5603 | |||
| B6701 | |||
| B6702 | |||
| B7801 |
Previously named Associated Antigens are shown in bold type. Following the assignment of additional novel Associated Antigens documented in this report, the names of the A203, A210, B703 and DR103 have been extended to A0203, A0210, B0703, and DR0103.
3. Serologic HLA‐DQA1~DQB1 antigens defined by combinations of polymorphic subunits
This report includes nomenclature for the serological specificities encoded by both the HLA‐DQA1 and HLA‐DQB1 genes. As such it is now possible to define a nomenclature for the paired combination of both subunits of HLA‐DQ molecules. Table 5 lists those proteins encoded in cis by common DQ haplotype blocks. The specificities resulting from trans‐encoded heterodimers should be presented in the same format.
TABLE 5.
HLA‐DQA1~DQB1 cis‐encoded heterodimer Antigens.
| Serologic combinations of HLA‐DQA~HLA‐DQ heterodimer Antigens |
|---|
| DQA01~DQ5 |
| DQA01~DQ6 |
| DQA02~DQ2 |
| DQA02~DQ9 |
| DQA03~DQ2 |
| DQA03~DQ4 |
| DQA03~DQ7 |
| DQA03~DQ8 |
| DQA03~DQ9 |
| DQA04~DQ4 |
| DQA04~DQ7 |
| DQA05~DQ2 |
| DQA05~DQ7 |
| DQA05~DQ9 |
| DQA06~DQ7 |
The newly assigned HLA antigens and associated antigens will be implemented in April 2026 and will be made available through the IPD‐IMGT/HLA Database (www.ebi.ac.uk/ipd/imgt/hla) with the April 2026 release of the database. 26 , 27 , 28
4. The IPD‐IMGT/HLA Database
The IPD‐IMGT/HLA Database continues to act as the official repository for HLA sequences named by the WHO Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System. 26 , 27 , 28 The database contains sequences for all HLA alleles officially recognised by the WHO Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System and provides users with online tools and facilities for their retrieval and analysis. These include allele reports, alignment tools, and detailed descriptions of the source cells. The online IPD‐IMGT/HLA Database submission tool allows both new and confirmatory sequences to be submitted directly to the WHO Nomenclature Committee. New releases of the database are made every three months, in January, April, July and October, with the latest version (release 3.63.0 January 2026) containing 43,758 HLA alleles. The database may be accessed via the worldwide web at www.ebi.ac.uk/ipd/imgt/hla. The IPD‐IMGT/HLA Database is currently supported by the following organisations: NMDP, TxMiller Foundation, CareDx, DKMS, Gift of Life, Werfen, Scisco Genetics, the European Federation for Immunogenetics (EFI), GenDx, Pirche, ThermoFisher, the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI), LabCorp, Histogenetics, the Asia‐Pacific Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Association (APHIA), BAG Diagnostics, Protrans, Inno‐train, and Anthony Nolan.
List of committee members involved in preparing this report
SGE Marsh, University College London, London, UK (Chairman)
WF Bodmer, Oncology Department, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
MN Carrington, Basic Science Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, USA and Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA & Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
HA Erlich, Benioff UCSF Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, USA
M Fernández‐Viña, Stanford Blood Center, Palo Alto, USA & Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA
S Heidt, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, & Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
R Holdsworth, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
WR Mayr, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
M Maiers, Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, (CIBMTR), NMDP, Minneapolis, USA
P Parham, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA
EW Petersdorf, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, USA
J Robinson, Anthony Nolan Research Institute, & University College London, London, UK
J Trowsdale, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
Co‐opted members
RE Bontrop, Biomedical Primate Research Centre, Rijswijk, The Netherlands
K Osoegawa, Stanford Blood Center, Palo Alto, USA
Footnote
New sequences should be communicated to the WHO Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System via the sequence submission tool of the IPD‐IMGT/HLA Database to receive official names, www.ebi.ac.uk/ipd/imgt/hla.
Acknowledgements
The Committee would like to thank Dominic Barker, Michael Cooper, Sebastian Hopper and Surayia Akter for their work with the IPD‐IMGT/HLA Database. Also thanked is Andy Yates and the staff at the European Bioinformatics Institute for their continued support of the IPD‐IMGT/HLA Database. We would also like to thank the many organisations that provide financial support for the IPD‐IMGT/HLA Database and Benjamin Hester of the ‘NMDP Foundation’ for his work in soliciting and coordinating the funding of this project. We are grateful to Stanford Blood Center for covering the cost for providing open access for this article.
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Associated Data
This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.