Text Box: A NOVEL METHOD FOR FC GAMMA RECEPTOR IIIA GENOTYPING IN A HEALTHY CHINESE POPULATION Wang H1, Zhu S1,Feng J1, Wang J1,Tang Y1,Luan B1,Chanock S2. 1 The Third Teaching Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China 2 National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA Objective: To develop an easy assay for genotyping Fc gamma receptor IIIA (FcγRIIIA). Method: A nested PCR based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis was developed for genotyping of FcγRIIIA-158V/F in a population of 150 healthy Chinese people. First amplified with a pair of allele-specific primers was a 1.2kb fragment, which was used as template for reamplification with a pair of mutation-inducing primers. This pair of mutation-inducing primers was aimed at creating a restriction sequence for Hinc II. The digested final PCR product was fractionated on 3.5% agarose gel to determine variant genotypes of FcγRIIIA-158V/F. All the samples were also genotyped by direct sequencing. Results: The amplified fragments from all the samples were confimed by direct sequencing to be FcγRIIIA specific; Gel fractionation results were consistent with direct sequencing results for 100 per cent; we first report the distribution of variant genotypes of FcγRIIIA-158V/F in healthy Chinese population. Conclusions: This method is practical and reliable for genotyping analysis of FcγRIIIA-158V/F.The results of distribution of FcγRIIIA-158V/F. variants provide a basis on which its association with autoimmune or infectious disorders will be studied in different disease populations. Key words: Fcγ RIIIA; genotyping; Chinese 1866