Blood, 1 July 2002, Vol. 100, No. 1, pp. 306-311
TRANSFUSION MEDICINE
The DAU allele cluster of the RHD
gene
Franz F. Wagner,
Birgit Ladewig,
Katharina S. Angert,
Guido A. Heymann,
Nicole I. Eicher, and
Willy A. Flegel
From the Abteilung Transfusionsmedizin,
Universitätsklinikum Ulm and DRK Blutspendedienst
Baden-Württemberg-Hessen, Institut Ulm, Ulm, Germany;
Biotest AG, Dreieich, Germany; Abteilung
Transfusionsmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Aachen, Germany;
Institut für Transfusionsmedizin, Charité, Berlin, Germany;
and Blutspendedienst SRK Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Variant D occurs frequently in Africans. However, considerably less
RHD alleles have been described in this population compared with Europeans. We characterized 5 new RHD alleles, dubbed
DAU-0 to DAU-4, that shared a T379M
substitution and occurred in a cDe haplotype.
DAU-1 to DAU-4 were detected in Africans with
partial D phenotypes. They harbored one and 2 additional missense
mutations, respectively, dispersed throughout the RhD protein. An
anti-D immunization was found in DAU-3. DAU-0
carrying T379M only was detected by screening European blood donors and
expressed a normal D phenotype. Within the phylogeny of the
RHD alleles, DAU formed an independent allele cluster,
separate from the DIVa, weak D type 4, and Eurasian D clusters. The
characterization of the RH phylogeny provided a framework
for future studies on RH alleles. The identification of the
DAU alleles increased the number of known partial D alleles
in Africans considerably. DAU alleles may be a major cause
of antigen D variability and anti-D immunization in patients of African descent.
