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Immunoinformatics pp 1–18Cite as

IMGT-ONTOLOGY, IMGT® Databases, Tools, and Web Resources for Immunoinformatics

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Abstract

IMGT®, the international ImMunoGeneTics information system®, was created in 1989 as a high-quality integrated knowledge resource specialized in immunoglobulins (IG), T cell receptors (TR), major histocompatibility complexes (MHC) of human and other vertebrates, and related proteins of the immune system (RPI) which belong to the immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) and to the MHC superfamily (MhcSF). IMGT® is the international reference in immunogenetics and immunoinformatics. IMGT® combines sequence databases (IMGT/LIGM-DB, IMGT/PRIMER-DB, IMGT/PROTEIN-DB, IMGT/MHC-DB), a genome database (IMGT/E-DB), and a three-dimensional (3D) structure database (IMGT/3Dstructure-DB) with interactive analysis tools (IMGT/V-QUEST, IMGT/JunctionAnalysis) and Web resources comprising 8000 HTML pages (IMGT Repertoire). The accuracy and consistency of IMGT data are based on IMGT-ONTOLOGY, available for biologists and IMGT users in the IMGT Scientific chart and for computer scientists in IMGT-ML, in XML format. IMGT® components (databases, tools, and Web resources) have been developed according to three main biological approaches: the genomic approach that is gene centered, the genetic approach that refers to genes in relation to their polymorphisms, expression, specificity, and evolution, and the structural approach that analyses 3D structures in relation to protein function and recognition sites. We are implementing Web services for the IMGT databases and tools. This is the first step toward IMGTChoreography that will trigger and coordinate dynamic interactions between IMGT Web services in order to process complex significant biological and clinical requests. IMGT® is widely used in fundamental and medical research (repertoire analysis of the IG antibody sites and of the TR recognition sites in autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, AIDS, leukemias, lymphomas, myelomas), veterinary research situations (IG and TR repertoires in farm and wildlife species), genome diversity and genome evolution studies of the adaptive immune responses, biotechnology related to antibody engineering (single chain Fragment variable (scFv), phage displays, combinatorial libraries, chimeric, humanized, and human antibodies), diagnostics (clonalities, detection and follow-up of residual diseases), and therapeutical approaches (graft, immunotherapy, vaccinology). IMGT® is freely available at http://imgt.cines.fr.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IMGT®, the International ImMunoGeneTics Information System®, Université Montpellier II, Institut Universitaire de France, Laboratoire d’ImmunoGénétique Moléculaire LIGM, UPR CNRS 1142, Institut de Génétique Humaine IGH 141 rue de la Cardonille, 34396 Montpellier, Cedex 5, France

    Marie-Paule Lefranc

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  1. Marie-Paule Lefranc
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Genomics and Genetics, School of Biological Sciences Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637551, Singapore

    Christian Schönbach

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, Biotechnology Research Institute Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia

    Shoba Ranganathan

  3. Director of Bioinformatics, Cancer Vaccine Center Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, HIM 418 Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA

    Vladimir Brusic

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Lefranc, MP. (2008). IMGT-ONTOLOGY, IMGT® Databases, Tools, and Web Resources for Immunoinformatics. In: Schönbach, C., Ranganathan, S., Brusic, V. (eds) Immunoinformatics., vol 1. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-72968-8_1

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