KIR gene genotype frequencies in donors of German, Turkish, and Polish descent

Aim Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) are expressed on cells of the innate immune system. The KIR system has been found to be important in donor selection for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in certain circumstances (Cooley et al. Blood, 2010). In addition to the frequency of these 17 KIR loci in donors of German, Polish, and Turkish descent, we present the most common KIR genotypes in these ethnic groups as well as the frequency of KIR haplotypes. Methods More than 82,000 donors have been recruited from January through April 2015 by DKMS in Germany and typed for absence or presence of 17 KIR genes and pseudogenes using an NGS-based amplicon approach targeting exons 4, 5, and 7 of the respective genes. While KIR2DL5A and KIR2DL5B genes are not distinguished, KIR2DS4 and KIR2DS4N are reported separately, as null alleles are not biologically functional. Frequencies are given by the relative fraction of typing results. Results 70,411 of the donors recruited indicated to be of German descent, 4989 of Turkish and 860 of Polish descent. The most common KIR genotype in all 3 ethnicities includes the presence of only 2DL1, 2DL3, 2DL4, 2DP1, 2DS4N, 3DL1, 3DL2, 3DL3, and 3DP1 genes. For all populations, the most frequent KIR genotype, according to the classification of Cooley et al., is B/2, while B/4 is most rare. Download full-size image Download full-size image