About HLA antigen epitopes (2) : Overview of Serological HLA Typing

Abstract

In 1958, Payne et al. discovered that leukocyte agglutinins were produced in the sera of pregnant women. This finding revealed that high-quality anti-HLA antibodies could be obtained from multiparous women, leading researchers to actively collect antisera from these women. In 1964, Terasaki et al. further advanced the field by developing the lymphocyte cytotoxicity test (LCT), which enabled highly accurate typing using minute amounts of antiserum─as little as 1uL. The LCT method made it possible to test antiserum reactivity against numerous lymphocyte samples, facilitating the detailed classification of HLA antigens. Furthermore, the reactivity of antisera with various lymphocytes and analysis of HLA molecules at the genetic level revealed the shared amino acid sequences and cross-reactivity between different HLA antigens, which are characteristics of HLA antigens.