DR2 (DRw15, 16): 2-D Gel Patterns

The results of the 9th Workshop identified two serologic splits within the DR2 haplotype (long and short). Heterogeneity was also defined by cellular typing; three forms were identified and described as Dw2 (common Caucasian), Dw12 (Japanese variant), and “FJO” (“LD2s”). A comparative analysis of the results indicated that the cellular type “LD2s” was recognized by sera as DR2 short (1). Other studies by RFLP(2) and 2-D gel (3,4) analysis described further polymorphism. In this Workshop, these three subtypes have been confirmed and given WHO recognition (5). DR2 long is now called DRw15 and DR2 short is DRw16. DRw16 can be associated with either DQw1 or DQw3, which have been given separate Dw specificities, Dw21 (LD2s) and Dw22 (LD5a), respectively. Two subtypes of DQw1 have been serologically defined, namely, DQw5 (DQw1.1) and DQw6 (DQw1.2). The association of these new specificities with the Workshop 2-D gel patterns is shown in Table 1.