Highly polymorphic products of both HLA-DR and HLA-DQ genes contribute to the polymorphism of the HLA-DRw13 haplotype.

We studied the polymorphisms of HLA-DR and HLA-DQ products from HLA-DRw13 haplotypes by analyzing the restriction of influenza A-specific cloned T cells from an HLA-DRw13,DQw1,Dw19 homozygous individual. The results show that some functional epitopes, which can be borne by either HLA-DR or HLA-DQ molecules, are strictly correlated with the HLA-Dw19 subtype of HLA-DRw13. This clearly indicates that both HLA-DR and HLA-DQ products contribute to the HLA-Dw19 subdivision of HLA-DRw13. At least two different restricting epitopes are borne by DR products: one is correlated with the HLA-DRw13 serologically defined specificity, which includes Dw19 and Dw18 haplotypes; the other is correlated with the only HLA-Dw19 subtype of HLA-DRw13. Restricting epitopes borne by DQ molecules have been found on Dw19 cells only. DQ-restricted clones were unable to react with DQw1 APC of any other haplotypes tested, including DR1, DR2-long, DR2-short, and DRw14, demonstrating a high degree of functional polymorphism among the serologically defined DQw1 specificities.