THE RESULTS OF THE 6th International Workshop on Human Leukocyte Differentiation Antigens were presented on November 10 through 14, 1996 at a conference held in Kobe, Japan. More than 500 laboratories worldwide participated in the evaluation of 1,152 antibodies and the characterization of more than 190 molecules during a 2-year period. Serologic, molecular, biochemical, histochemical, and functional characterization of the monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) and the structures defined by them was undertaken by dedicated participating laboratories. The cross-lineage blind panels for all MoAbs, including every CD, every known candidate for CD status, and all MoAbs of undefined specificity, were analyzed by flow cytometry and the results of the blind panel study were subjected to statistical analysis to identify possible antibody clusters. The results obtained by all groups showed almost perfect accordance. Detailed results of these workshop studies will be published separately.1 Concise summaries (CD guides) for each of the 190 molecules have also been written by experts and are undergoing peer review. (These summaries will be available on the WWW starting in February 1997 at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/prow For information, send e-mail to prow@nih.gov.) In addition, the workshop database has been made accessible on the World Wide Web server to provide identifying information on all molecules and MoAbs studied in the workshop and to display and analyze quantitative expression of each molecule on more than 70 cell types used for the cross-lineage blind panel study. (The database of the workshop is accessible on the WWW at http://mol.genes.nig.ac.jp/hlda/ For information, send e-mail to hlda-master@ddbj.nig.ac.jp.) Based on these findings, the workshop organizers are pleased to recommend the adoption of 41 new CD clusters and subclusters and the redefinition of 11 previously established clusters. Table 1 summarizes the additions and changes made to the existing CD nomenclature.
Address reprint requests to Hitoshi Kikutani, MD, Department of Molecular Immunology, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, 3-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565, Japan.
