Introduction to OGRDB

Introduction to OGRDB

In recent years it has become possible to sequence immune receptor repertoires (immunoglobulins and T cell receptors) at great depth. The accurate analysis of these repertoires requires a comprehensive understanding of the germline genes that give rise to the repertoire through V(D)J gene recombination.

Even for well-studied species such as humans and mice, our knowledge of allelic variation is incomplete. Identifying new immunoglobulin and T cell receptor polymorphisms from the genome using traditional methods is technically challenging, because of the complex sequence architecture and repetitive nature of these loci. More recently, methods have been developed to infer novel sequences and alleles from sequenced repertoires.

The Adaptive Immune Receptor Repertoire (AIRR) Community was formed to promote and share good practice in adaptive immune repertoire sequencing. In 2017, it established the Inferred Allele Review Committee (IARC) to evaluate inferred alleles for inclusion in relevant germline databases. IARC’s work is outlined in more detail in a poster, which was presented at a Systems Immunology Workshop at the University of Surrey, England, in March 2018, and in a recent paper. IARC has worked, together with colleagues at IMGT and the US National Institute of Health, to establish a systematic submission and review process. OGRDB was created and designed to support that process, and provide a real-time record of affirmed sequences. Affirmed sequences are listed under the Sequences tab, and the submissions and evidence that underpin them can be traced back from the records there or browsed under the Submissions tab. You can make your own submissions by following the Submission Guide.