The human Major Histocompatibility Complex as a paradigm in genomics research

A novel framework for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genotyping using probe capture-based targeted next-generation sequencing and computational analysis

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes play pivotal roles in numerous immunological applications. Given the immense number of polymorphisms, achieving accurate high-throughput HLA typing remains challenging. This study aimed to harness the human pan-genome reference consortium (HPRC) resources as a potential benchmark for HLA reference materials. We meticulously annotated specific four field-resolution alleles for 11 HLA genes (HLA-A, -B, -C, -DPA1, -DPB1, -DQA1, -DQB1, -DRB1, -DRB3, -DRB4 and -DRB5) from 44 high-quality HPRC personal genome assemblies. For sequencing, we crafted HLA-specific probes and conducted capture-based targeted sequencing of the genomic DNA of the HPRC cohort, ensuring focused and comprehensive coverage of the HLA region of interest. We used publicly available short-read whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data from identical samples to offer a comparative perspective. To decipher the vast amount of sequencing data, we employed seven distinct software tools: OptiType, HLA-VBseq, HISAT genotype, SpecHLA, T1K, QzType, and DRAGEN. Each tool offers unique capabilities and algorithms for HLA genotyping, allowing comprehensive analysis and validation of the results. We then compared these results with benchmarks derived from personal genome assemblies. Our findings present a comprehensive four-field-resolution HLA allele annotation for 44 HPRC samples. Significantly, our innovative targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach for HLA genes showed superior accuracy compared with conventional short-read WGS. An integrated analysis involving QzType, T1K, and DRAGEN was developed, achieving 100% accuracy for all 11 HLA genes. In conclusion, our study highlighted the combination of targeted short-read sequencing and astute computational analysis as a robust approach for HLA genotyping. Furthermore, the HPRC cohort has emerged as a valuable assembly-based reference in this realm.

Quantitative trait locus mapping in placenta: A comparative study of chorionic villus and birth placenta

The placenta, a pivotal player in the prenatal environment, holds crucial insights into early developmental pathways and future health outcomes. In this study, we explored genetic molecular regulation in chorionic villus samples (CVS) from the first trimester and placenta tissue at birth. We assessed quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping on DNA methylation and gene expression data in a Finnish cohort of 574 individuals. We found more QTLs in birth placenta than in first-trimester placenta. Nevertheless, a substantial amount of associations overlapped in their effects and showed consistent direction in both tissues, with increasing molecular genetic effects from early pregnancy to birth placenta. The identified QTLs in birth placenta were most enriched in genes with placenta-specific expression. Conducting a phenome-wide-association study (PheWAS) on the associated SNPs, we observed numerous overlaps with genome-wide association study (GWAS) hits (spanning 57 distinct traits and 23 SNPs), with notable enrichments for immunological, skeletal, and respiratory traits. The QTL-SNP rs1737028 (chr6:29737993) presented with the highest number of GWAS hits. This SNP was related to HLA-G expression via DNA methylation and was associated with various immune, respiratory, and psychiatric traits. Our findings implicate increasing genetic molecular regulation during the course of pregnancy and support the involvement of placenta gene regulation, particularly in immunological traits. This study presents a framework for understanding placenta-specific gene regulation during pregnancy and its connection to health-related traits.

Haplotype-based breeding: A new insight in crop improvement

Haplotype-based breeding (HBB) is one of the cutting-edge technologies in the realm of crop improvement due to the increasing availability of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms identified by Next Generation Sequencing technologies. The complexity of the data can be decreased with fewer statistical tests and a lower probability of spurious associations by combining thousands of SNPs into a few hundred haplotype blocks. The presence of strong genomic regions in breeding lines of most crop species facilitates the use of haplotypes to improve the efficiency of genomic and marker-assisted selection. Haplotype-based breeding as a Genomic Assisted Breeding (GAB) approach harnesses the genome sequence data to pinpoint the allelic variation used to hasten the breeding cycle and circumvent the challenges associated with linkage drag. This review article demonstrates ways to identify candidate genes, superior haplotype identification, haplo-pheno analysis, and haplotype-based marker-assisted selection. The crop improvement strategies that utilize superior haplotypes will hasten the breeding progress to safeguard global food security.

HLA Genetic Diversity and Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection: Effect of Heterozygosity Advantage

This research aims to determine whether HLA heterozygosity confers a protective effect against hepatitis B virus infection by analyzing the relationship between HLA diversity and the risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. A total of 327 hepatitis B patients were selected and categorized based on their clinical status: 284 patients with chronic HBV infection and 43 patients with HBV-related liver cirrhosis (LC). The control group included 304 healthy individuals. HLA genotyping for 11 loci, including HLA class I and class II, was conducted using next-generation sequencing. The results of this study indicate a statistically significant negative correlation between HLA class II heterozygosity and the risk of HBV infection. Specifically, heterozygosity in HLA-DQB1 (OR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.31-0.76, p = 0.01277) and HLA-DRB1 (OR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.24-0.77, p = 0.01855) were significantly associated with protection. Subgroup analysis was conducted to explore the effect of HLA diversity among pathological subtypes (chronic hepatitis B and control group, liver cirrhosis and control group). For liver cirrhosis, compared with the control group, a decreased risk of LC was possibly associated with the heterozygosity of HLA class I locus B (OR = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.09-0.65, p = 0.0591), but this hypothesis was not confirmed by other studies. The diversity of HLA, measured by HLA heterozygosity, was associated with a protective effect against HBV infection.

Macrophages and HLA-Class II Alleles in Multiple Sclerosis: Insights in Therapeutic Dynamics

Antigen presentation is a crucial mechanism that drives the T cell-mediated immune response and the development of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Genetic alterations within the highly variable Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II (MHC II) have been proven to result in significant changes in the molecular basis of antigen presentation and the clinical course of patients with both Adult-Onset MS (AOMS) and Pediatric-Onset MS (POMS). Among the numerous polymorphisms of the Human Leucocyte Antigens (HLA), within MHC II complex, HLA-DRB1*15:01 has been labeled, in Caucasian ethnic groups, as a high-risk allele for MS due to the ability of its structure to increase affinity to Myelin Basic Protein (MBP) epitopes. This characteristic, among others, in the context of the trimolecular complex or immunological synapsis, provides the foundation for autoimmunity triggered by environmental or endogenous factors. As with all professional antigen presenting cells, macrophages are characterized by the expression of MHC II and are often implicated in the formation of MS lesions. Increased presence of M1 macrophages in MS patients has been associated both with progression and onset of the disease, each involving separate but similar mechanisms. In this critical narrative review, we focus on macrophages, discussing how HLA genetic alterations can promote dysregulation of this population's homeostasis in the periphery and the Central Nervous System (CNS). We also explore the potential interconnection in observed pathological macrophage mechanisms and the function of the diverse structure of HLA alleles in neurodegenerative CNS, seen in MS, by comparing available clinical with molecular data through the prism of HLA-immunogenetics. Finally, we discuss available and experimental pharmacological approaches for MS targeting the trimolecular complex that are based on cell phenotype modulation and HLA genotype involvement and try to reveal fertile ground for the potential development of novel drugs.

The 330 risk loci known for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): a review

An in-depth literature review of up to 2023 reveals 330 risk loci found by genetic association at p ≤ 5 × 10-8, with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in at least one study of 160 pertinent publications. There are 225 loci found in East Asian (EAS), 106 in European (EU), 11 in African-American (AA), 18 Mixed American (MA), and 1 in Egyptian ancestries. Unexpectedly, most of these associations are found to date at p ≤ 5 × 10-8 in a single ancestry. However, the EAS and EU share 40 risk loci that are independently established. The great majority of the identified loci [250 (75.8%) of 330] do not contain a variant that changes an amino acid sequence. Meanwhile, most overlap with known regulatory elements in the genome [266 (80.6%) of 330], suggesting a major role for gene regulation in the genetic mechanisms of SLE. To evaluate the pathways altered by SLE-associated variants, we generated gene sets potentially regulated by SLE loci that consist of the nearest genes, published attributions, and genes predicted by computational tools. The most useful insights, at present, suggest that SLE genetic mechanisms involve (1) the regulation of both adaptive and innate immune responses including immune cell activation and differentiation; (2) the regulation of production and response to cytokines, including type I interferon; (3) apoptosis; (4) the sensing and removal of immune complexes and apoptotic particles; and (5) immune response to infections, including Epstein-Barr Virus, and symbiont microorganisms. These mechanisms affected by SLE genes involve multiple cell types, including B cells/plasma cells, T cells, dendritic cells, monocytes/macrophages, natural killer cells, neutrophils, and endothelial cells. The genetics of SLE from GWAS data reveal an incredibly complex profusion of interrelated molecular processes and interacting cells participating in SLE pathogenesis, mostly unified in the molecular regulation of inflammatory responses. These genetic associations in lupus and affected molecular pathways not only give us an understanding of the disease pathogenesis but may also help in drug discoveries for SLE treatment.

Regulation of expression quantitative trait loci by SVA retrotransposons within the major histocompatibility complex

Genomic and transcriptomic studies of expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) revealed that SINE-VNTR-Alu (SVA) retrotransposon insertion polymorphisms (RIPs) within human genomes markedly affect the co-expression of many coding and noncoding genes by coordinated regulatory processes. This study examined the polymorphic SVA modulation of gene co-expression within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genomic region where more than 160 coding genes are involved in innate and adaptive immunity. We characterized the modulation of SVA RIPs utilizing the genomic and transcriptomic sequencing data obtained from whole blood of 1266 individuals in the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) cohort that included an analysis of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A regulation in a subpopulation of the cohort. The regulatory properties of eight SVAs located within the class I and class II MHC regions were associated with differential co-expression of 71 different genes within and 75 genes outside the MHC region. Some of the same genes were affected by two or more different SVA. Five SVA are annotated in the human genomic reference sequence GRCh38.p14/hg38, whereas the other three were novel insertions within individuals. We also examined and found distinct structural effects (long and short variants and the CT internal variants) for one of the SVA (R_SVA_24) insertions on the differential expression of the HLA-A gene within a subpopulation (550 individuals) of the PPMI cohort. This is the first time that many HLA and non-HLA genes (multilocus expression units) and splicing mechanisms have been shown to be regulated by eight structurally polymorphic SVA within the MHC genomic region by applying precise statistical analysis of RNA data derived from the blood samples of a human cohort population. This study shows that SVA within the MHC region are important regulators or rheostats of gene co-expression that might have potential roles in diversity, health, and disease.

Multiscale analysis of pangenomes enables improved representation of genomic diversity for repetitive and clinically relevant genes

Advancements in sequencing technologies and assembly methods enable the regular production of high-quality genome assemblies characterizing complex regions. However, challenges remain in efficiently interpreting variation at various scales, from smaller tandem repeats to megabase rearrangements, across many human genomes. We present a PanGenome Research Tool Kit (PGR-TK) enabling analyses of complex pangenome structural and haplotype variation at multiple scales. We apply the graph decomposition methods in PGR-TK to the class II major histocompatibility complex demonstrating the importance of the human pangenome for analyzing complicated regions. Moreover, we investigate the Y-chromosome genes, DAZ1/DAZ2/DAZ3/DAZ4, of which structural variants have been linked to male infertility, and X-chromosome genes OPN1LW and OPN1MW linked to eye disorders. We further showcase PGR-TK across 395 complex repetitive medically important genes. This highlights the power of PGR-TK to resolve complex variation in regions of the genome that were previously too complex to analyze.

CrossDome: an interactive R package to predict cross-reactivity risk using immunopeptidomics databases

T-cell-based immunotherapies hold tremendous potential in the fight against cancer, thanks to their capacity to specifically targeting diseased cells. Nevertheless, this potential has been tempered with safety concerns regarding the possible recognition of unknown off-targets displayed by healthy cells. In a notorious example, engineered T-cells specific to MAGEA3 (EVDPIGHLY) also recognized a TITIN-derived peptide (ESDPIVAQY) expressed by cardiac cells, inducing lethal damage in melanoma patients. Such off-target toxicity has been related to T-cell cross-reactivity induced by molecular mimicry. In this context, there is growing interest in developing the means to avoid off-target toxicity, and to provide safer immunotherapy products. To this end, we present CrossDome, a multi-omics suite to predict the off-target toxicity risk of T-cell-based immunotherapies. Our suite provides two alternative protocols, i) a peptide-centered prediction, or ii) a TCR-centered prediction. As proof-of-principle, we evaluate our approach using 16 well-known cross-reactivity cases involving cancer-associated antigens. With CrossDome, the TITIN-derived peptide was predicted at the 99+ percentile rank among 36,000 scored candidates (p-value < 0.001). In addition, off-targets for all the 16 known cases were predicted within the top ranges of relatedness score on a Monte Carlo simulation with over 5 million putative peptide pairs, allowing us to determine a cut-off p-value for off-target toxicity risk. We also implemented a penalty system based on TCR hotspots, named contact map (CM). This TCR-centered approach improved upon the peptide-centered prediction on the MAGEA3-TITIN screening (e.g., from 27th to 6th, out of 36,000 ranked peptides). Next, we used an extended dataset of experimentally-determined cross-reactive peptides to evaluate alternative CrossDome protocols. The level of enrichment of validated cases among top 50 best-scored peptides was 63% for the peptide-centered protocol, and up to 82% for the TCR-centered protocol. Finally, we performed functional characterization of top ranking candidates, by integrating expression data, HLA binding, and immunogenicity predictions. CrossDome was designed as an R package for easy integration with antigen discovery pipelines, and an interactive web interface for users without coding experience. CrossDome is under active development, and it is available at https://github.com/AntunesLab/crossdome.

PepSim: T-cell cross-reactivity prediction via comparison of peptide sequence and peptide-HLA structure

Introduction

Peptide-HLA class I (pHLA) complexes on the surface of tumor cells can be targeted by cytotoxic T-cells to eliminate tumors, and this is one of the bases for T-cell-based immunotherapies. However, there exist cases where therapeutic T-cells directed towards tumor pHLA complexes may also recognize pHLAs from healthy normal cells. The process where the same T-cell clone recognizes more than one pHLA is referred to as T-cell cross-reactivity and this process is driven mainly by features that make pHLAs similar to each other. T-cell cross-reactivity prediction is critical for designing T-cell-based cancer immunotherapies that are both effective and safe.

Methods

Here we present PepSim, a novel score to predict T-cell cross-reactivity based on the structural and biochemical similarity of pHLAs.

Results and discussion

We show our method can accurately separate cross-reactive from non-crossreactive pHLAs in a diverse set of datasets including cancer, viral, and self-peptides. PepSim can be generalized to work on any dataset of class I peptide-HLAs and is freely available as a web server at pepsim.kavrakilab.org.

An immunogenetic investigation of 30 autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases and their links to psychiatric disorders in a nationwide sample

Autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases (AIIDs) involve a deficit in an individual's immune system function, whereby the immune reaction is directed against self-antigens. Many AIIDs have a strong genetic component, but they can also be triggered by environmental factors. AIIDs often have a highly negative impact on the individual's physical and mental wellbeing. Understanding the genetic underpinning of AIIDs is thus crucial both for diagnosis and for identifying individuals at high risk of an AIID and mental illness as a result thereof. The aim of the present study was to perform systematic statistical and genetic analyses to assess the role of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles in 30 AIIDs and to study the links between AIIDs and psychiatric disorders. We leveraged the Danish iPSYCH Consortium sample comprising 65 534 individuals diagnosed with psychiatric disorders or selected as part of a random population sample, for whom we also had genetic data and diagnoses of AIIDs. We employed regression analysis to examine comorbidities between AIIDs and psychiatric disorders and associations between AIIDs and HLA alleles across seven HLA genes. Our comorbidity analyses showed that overall AIID and five specific AIIDs were associated with having a psychiatric diagnosis. Our genetic analyses found 81 significant associations between HLA alleles and AIIDs. Lastly, we show connections across AIIDs, psychiatric disorders and infection susceptibility through network analysis of significant HLA associations in these disease classes. Combined, our results include both novel associations as well as replications of previously reported associations in a large sample, and highlight the genetic and epidemiological links between AIIDs and psychiatric disorders.

Third-Generation Sequencing of Epigenetic DNA

The discovery of epigenetic bases has revolutionised the understanding of disease and development. Among the most studied epigenetic marks are cytosines covalently modified at the 5 position. In order to gain insight into their biological significance, the ability to determine their spatiotemporal distribution within the genome is essential. Techniques for sequencing on "next-generation" platforms often involve harsh chemical treatments leading to sample degradation. Third-generation sequencing promises to further revolutionise the field by providing long reads, enabling coverage of highly repetitive regions of the genome or structural variants considered unmappable by next generation sequencing technology. While the ability of third-generation platforms to directly detect epigenetic modifications is continuously improving, at present chemical or enzymatic derivatisation presents the most convenient means of enhancing reliability. This Review presents techniques available for the detection of cytosine modifications on third-generation platforms.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of HLA class II associations in patients with IgG4 autoimmunity

Autoimmune diseases caused by pathogenic IgG4 subclass autoantibodies (IgG4-AID) include diseases like MuSK myasthenia gravis, pemphigus vulgaris or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Their etiology is still unknown. Polymorphisms in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) gene locus, particularly in HLA-DRB1, are known genetic susceptibility factors for autoimmune diseases. We hypothesized a similar role for HLA polymorphisms in IgG4-AID and conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis with case-control studies on IgG4-AID based on MOOSE/ HuGENet guidelines. Genotype (G) and allele (A) frequencies of HLA-DQB1*05 (G: OR 3.8; 95% CI 2.44-5.9; p < 0.00001; A: OR 2.54; 95% CI 1.82-3.55; p < 0.00001) and HLA-DRB1*14 (G: OR 4.31; 95% CI 2.82-6.59; p < 0.00001; A: OR 4.78; 95% CI 3.52-6.49; p < 0.00001) and the HLA-DRB1*14-DQB1*05 haplotype (OR 6.3; 95% CI 3.28-12.09; p < 0.00001/OR 4.98; 95% CI 3.8-6.53; p < 0.00001) were increased while HLA-DRB1*13 (G: OR 0.48; 95% CI 0.34-0.68; p < 0.0001; A: OR 0.46; 95% CI 0.34-0.62; p < 0.00001) was decreased in IgG4-AID patients. In conclusion, the HLA-DQB1*05, HLA-DRB1*14 alleles and the HLA-DQB1*05-DRB1*14 haplotype could be genetic risk factors that predispose for the production of pathogenic IgG4 autoantibodies and the HLA-DRB1*13 allele may protect from IgG4 autoimmunity.

Adaptive selection signatures in river buffalo with emphasis on immune and major histocompatibility complex genes

River buffalo is an agriculturally important species with many traits, such as disease tolerance, which promote its use worldwide. Highly contiguous genome assemblies of the river buffalo, goat, pig, human and two cattle subspecies were aligned to study gene gains and losses and signs of positive selection. The gene families that have changed significantly in river buffalo since divergence from cattle play important roles in protein degradation, the olfactory receptor system, detoxification and the immune system. We used the branch site model in PAML to analyse single-copy orthologs to identify positively selected genes that may be involved in skin differentiation, mammary development and bone formation in the river buffalo branch. The high contiguity of the genomes enabled evaluation of differences among species in the major histocompatibility complex. We identified a Babesia-like L1 LINE insertion in the DRB1-like gene in the river buffalo and discuss the implication of this finding.

Haplotypic Associations and Differentiation of MHC Class II Polymorphic Alu Insertions at Five Loci With HLA-DRB1 Alleles in 12 Minority Ethnic Populations in China

The analysis of polymorphic variations in the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II genomic region on the short-arm of chromosome 6 is a scientific enquiry to better understand the diversity in population structure and the effects of evolutionary processes such as recombination, mutation, genetic drift, demographic history, and natural selection. In order to investigate associations between the polymorphisms of HLA-DRB1 gene and recent Alu insertions (POALINs) in the HLA class II region, we genotyped HLA-DRB1 and five Alu loci (AluDPB2, AluDQA2, AluDQA1, AluDRB1, AluORF10), and determined their allele frequencies and haplotypic associations in 12 minority ethnic populations in China. There were 42 different HLA-DRB1 alleles for ethnic Chinese ranging from 12 alleles in the Jinuo to 28 in the Yugur with only DRB1^∗08:03, DRB1^∗09:01, DRB1^∗12:02, DRB1^∗14:01, DRB1^∗15:01, and DRB1^∗15:02 present in all ethnic groups. The POALINs varied in frequency between 0.279 and 0.514 for AluDPB2, 0 and 0.127 for AluDQA2, 0.777 and 0.995 for AluDQA1, 0.1 and 0.455 for AluDRB1 and 0.084 and 0.368 for AluORF10. By comparing the data of the five-loci POALIN in 13 Chinese ethnic populations (including Han-Yunnan published data) against Japanese and Caucasian published data, marked differences were observed between the populations at the allelic or haplotypic levels. Five POALIN loci were in significant linkage disequilibrium with HLA-DRB1 in different populations and AluDQA1 had the highest percentage association with most of the HLA-DRB1 alleles, whereas the nearby AluDRB1 indel was strongly haplotypic for only DRB1^∗01, DRB1^∗10, DRB1^∗15 and DRB1^∗16. There were 30 five-locus POALIN haplotypes inferred in all populations with H5 (no Alu insertions except for AluDQA1) and H21 (only AluDPB2 and AluDQA1 insertions) as the two predominant haplotypes. Neighbor joining trees and principal component analyses of the Alu and HLA-DRB1 polymorphisms showed that genetic diversity of these genomic markers is associated strongly with the population characteristics of language family, migration and sociality. This comparative study of HLA-DRB1 alleles and multilocus, lineage POALIN frequencies of Chinese ethnic populations confirmed that POALINs whether investigated alone or together with the HLA class II alleles are informative genetic and evolutionary markers for the identification of allele and haplotype lineages and genetic variations within the same and/or different populations.

The genome of the Pyrenean desman and the effects of bottlenecks and inbreeding on the genomic landscape of an endangered species

The Pyrenean desman (Galemys pyrenaicus) is a small semiaquatic mammal endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. Despite its limited range, this species presents a strong genetic structure due to past isolation in glacial refugia and subsequent bottlenecks. Additionally, some populations are highly fragmented today as a consequence of river barriers, causing substantial levels of inbreeding. These features make the Pyrenean desman a unique model in which to study the genomic footprints of differentiation, bottlenecks and extreme isolation in an endangered species. To understand these processes, the complete genome of the Pyrenean desman was sequenced and assembled using a Bloom filter-based approach. An analysis of the 1.83 Gb reference genome and the sequencing of five additional individuals from different evolutionary units allowed us to detect its main genomic characteristics. The population differentiation of the species was reflected in highly distinctive demographic trajectories. In addition, a severe population bottleneck during the postglacial recolonization of the eastern Pyrenees created one of the lowest genomic heterozygosity values recorded in a mammal. Moreover, isolation and inbreeding gave rise to a high proportion of runs of homozygosity (ROH). Despite these extremely low levels of genetic diversity, two key multigene families from an eco-evolutionary perspective, the major histocompatibility complex and olfactory receptor genes, showed heterozygosity excess in the majority of individuals, revealing that functional diversity can be maintained up to a certain extent. Furthermore, these two classes of genes were significantly less abundant than expected within ROH. In conclusion, the genomic landscape of each analysed Pyrenean desman turned out to be strikingly distinctive and was a clear reflection of its recent ancestry and current conservation conditions. These results may help characterize the genomic health of each individual, and can be crucial for the conservation and management of the species.

A large-scale investigation into the role of classical HLA loci in multiple types of severe infections, with a focus on overlaps with autoimmune and mental disorders

Background

Infections are a major disease burden worldwide. While they are caused by external pathogens, host genetics also plays a part in susceptibility to infections. Past studies have reported diverse associations between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles and infections, but many were limited by small sample sizes and/or focused on only one infection.

Methods

We performed an immunogenetic association study examining 13 categories of severe infection (bacterial, viral, central nervous system, gastrointestinal, genital, hepatitis, otitis, pregnancy-related, respiratory, sepsis, skin infection, urological and other infections), as well as a phenotype for having any infection, and seven classical HLA loci (HLA-A, B, C, DPB1, DQA1, DQB1 and DRB1). Additionally, we examined associations between infections and specific alleles highlighted in our previous studies of psychiatric disorders and autoimmune disease, as these conditions are known to be linked to infections.

Results

Associations between HLA loci and infections were generally not strong. Highlighted associations included associations between DQB1*0302 and DQB1*0604 and viral infections (P = 0.002835 and P = 0.014332, respectively), DQB1*0503 and sepsis (P = 0.006053), and DQA1*0301 with “other” infections (a category which includes infections not included in our main categories e.g. protozoan infections) (P = 0.000369). Some HLA alleles implicated in autoimmune diseases showed association with susceptibility to infections, but the latter associations were generally weaker, or with opposite trends (in the case of HLA-C alleles, but not with alleles of HLA class II genes). HLA alleles associated with psychiatric disorders did not show association with susceptibility to infections.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that classical HLA alleles do not play a large role in the etiology of severe infections. The discordant association trends with autoimmune disease for some alleles could contribute to mechanistic theories of disease etiology.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-021-02888-1.

Haplotype Shuffling and Dimorphic Transposable Elements in the Human Extended Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II Region

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on chromosome 6p21 is one of the most single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-dense regions of the human genome and a prime model for the study and understanding of conserved sequence polymorphisms and structural diversity of ancestral haplotypes/conserved extended haplotypes. This study aimed to follow up on a previous analysis of the MHC class I region by using the same set of 95 MHC haplotype sequences downloaded from a publicly available BioProject database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information to identify and characterize the polymorphic human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-class II genes, the MTCO3P1 pseudogene alleles, the indels of transposable elements as haplotypic lineage markers, and SNP-density crossover (XO) loci at haplotype junctions in DNA sequence alignments of different haplotypes across the extended class II region (∼1 Mb) from the telomeric PRRT1 gene in class III to the COL11A2 gene at the centromeric end of class II. We identified 42 haplotypic indels (20 Alu, 7 SVA, 13 LTR or MERs, and 2 indels composed of a mosaic of different transposable elements) linked to particular HLA-class II alleles. Comparative sequence analyses of 136 haplotype pairs revealed 98 unique XO sites between SNP-poor and SNP-rich genomic segments with considerable haplotype shuffling located in the proximity of putative recombination hotspots. The majority of XO sites occurred across various regions including in the vicinity of MTCO3P1 between HLA-DQB1 and HLA-DQB3, between HLA-DQB2 and HLA-DOB, between DOB and TAP2, and between HLA-DOA and HLA-DPA1, where most XOs were within a HERVK22 sequence. We also determined the genomic positions of the PRDM9-recombination suppression sequence motif ATCCATG/CATGGAT and the PRDM9 recombination activation partial binding motif CCTCCCCT/AGGGGAG in the class II region of the human reference genome (NC_ 000006) relative to published meiotic recombination positions. Both the recombination and anti-recombination PRDM9 binding motifs were widely distributed throughout the class II genomic regions with 50% or more found within repeat elements; the anti-recombination motifs were found mostly in L1 fragmented repeats. This study shows substantial haplotype shuffling between different polymorphic blocks and confirms the presence of numerous putative ancestral recombination sites across the class II region between various HLA class II genes.

SNP-Density Crossover Maps of Polymorphic Transposable Elements and HLA Genes Within MHC Class I Haplotype Blocks and Junction

The genomic region (~4 Mb) of the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on chromosome 6p21 is a prime model for the study and understanding of conserved polymorphic sequences (CPSs) and structural diversity of ancestral haplotypes (AHs)/conserved extended haplotypes (CEHs). The aim of this study was to use a set of 95 MHC genomic sequences downloaded from a publicly available BioProject database at NCBI to identify and characterise polymorphic human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I genes and pseudogenes, MICA and MICB, and retroelement indels as haplotypic lineage markers, and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) crossover loci in DNA sequence alignments of different haplotypes across the Olfactory Receptor (OR) gene region (~1.2 Mb) and the MHC class I region (~1.8 Mb) from the GPX5 to the MICB gene. Our comparative sequence analyses confirmed the identity of 12 haplotypic retroelement markers and revealed that they partitioned the HLA-A/B/C haplotypes into distinct evolutionary lineages. Crossovers between SNP-poor and SNP-rich regions defined the sequence range of haplotype blocks, and many of these crossover junctions occurred within particular transposable elements, lncRNA, OR12D2, MUC21, MUC22, PSORS1A3, HLA-C, HLA-B, and MICA. In a comparison of more than 250 paired sequence alignments, at least 38 SNP-density crossover sites were mapped across various regions from GPX5 to MICB. In a homology comparison of 16 different haplotypes, seven CEH/AH (7.1, 8.1, 18.2, 51.x, 57.1, 62.x, and 62.1) had no detectable SNP-density crossover junctions and were SNP poor across the entire ~2.8 Mb of sequence alignments. Of the analyses between different recombinant haplotypes, more than half of them had SNP crossovers within 10 kb of LTR16B/ERV3-16A3_I, MLT1, Charlie, and/or THE1 sequences and were in close vicinity to structurally polymorphic Alu and SVA insertion sites. These studies demonstrate that (1) SNP-density crossovers are associated with putative ancestral recombination sites that are widely spread across the MHC class I genomic region from at least the telomeric OR12D2 gene to the centromeric MICB gene and (2) the genomic sequences of MHC homozygous cell lines are useful for analysing haplotype blocks, ancestral haplotypic landscapes and markers, CPSs, and SNP-density crossover junctions.

Role of Human Leukocyte Antigen System as A Predictive Biomarker for Checkpoint-Based Immunotherapy in Cancer Patients

Recent advances in cancer immunotherapy have clearly shown that checkpoint-based immunotherapy is effective in a small subgroup of cancer patients. However, no effective predictive biomarker has been identified so far. The major histocompatibility complex, better known in humans as human leukocyte antigen (HLA), is a very polymorphic gene complex consisting of more than 200 genes. It has a crucial role in activating an appropriate host immune response against pathogens and tumor cells by discriminating self and non-self peptides. Several lines of evidence have shown that down-regulation of expression of HLA class I antigen derived peptide complexes by cancer cells is a mechanism of tumor immune escape and is often associated to poor prognosis in cancer patients. In addition, it has also been shown that HLA class I and II antigen expression, as well as defects in the antigen processing machinery complex, may predict tumor responses in cancer immunotherapy. Nevertheless, the role of HLA in predicting tumor responses to checkpoint-based immunotherapy is still debated. In this review, firstly, we will describe the structure and function of the HLA system. Secondly, we will summarize the HLA defects and their clinical significance in cancer patients. Thirdly, we will review the potential role of the HLA as a predictive biomarker for checkpoint-based immunotherapy in cancer patients. Lastly, we will discuss the potential strategies that may restore HLA function to implement novel therapeutic strategies in cancer patients.

HLA-Arena: A Customizable Environment for the Structural Modeling and Analysis of Peptide-HLA Complexes for Cancer Immunotherapy

PURPOSE

HLA protein receptors play a key role in cellular immunity. They bind intracellular peptides and display them for recognition by T-cell lymphocytes. Because T-cell activation is partially driven by structural features of these peptide-HLA complexes, their structural modeling and analysis are becoming central components of cancer immunotherapy projects. Unfortunately, this kind of analysis is limited by the small number of experimentally determined structures of peptide-HLA complexes. Overcoming this limitation requires developing novel computational methods to model and analyze peptide-HLA structures.

METHODS

Here we describe a new platform for the structural modeling and analysis of peptide-HLA complexes, called HLA-Arena, which we have implemented using Jupyter Notebook and Docker. It is a customizable environment that facilitates the use of computational tools, such as APE-Gen and DINC, which we have previously applied to peptide-HLA complexes. By integrating other commonly used tools, such as MODELLER and MHCflurry, this environment includes support for diverse tasks in structural modeling, analysis, and visualization.

RESULTS

To illustrate the capabilities of HLA-Arena, we describe 3 example workflows applied to peptide-HLA complexes. Leveraging the strengths of our tools, DINC and APE-Gen, the first 2 workflows show how to perform geometry prediction for peptide-HLA complexes and structure-based binding prediction, respectively. The third workflow presents an example of large-scale virtual screening of peptides for multiple HLA alleles.

CONCLUSION

These workflows illustrate the potential benefits of HLA-Arena for the structural modeling and analysis of peptide-HLA complexes. Because HLA-Arena can easily be integrated within larger computational pipelines, we expect its potential impact to vastly increase. For instance, it could be used to conduct structural analyses for personalized cancer immunotherapy, neoantigen discovery, or vaccine development.

Regulation of inflammation in diabetes: From genetics to epigenomics evidence

Background

Diabetes is one of the greatest public health challenges worldwide, and we still lack complementary approaches to significantly enhance the efficacy of preventive and therapeutic approaches. Genetic and environmental factors are the culprits involved in diabetes risk. Evidence from the last decade has highlighted that deregulation in the immune and inflammatory responses increase susceptibility to type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Spatiotemporal patterns of gene expression involved in immune cell polarisation depend on genomic enhancer elements in response to inflammatory and metabolic cues. Several studies have reported that most regulatory genetic variants are located in the non-protein coding regions of the genome and particularly in enhancer regions. The progress of high-throughput technologies has permitted the characterisation of enhancer chromatin properties. These advances support the concept that genetic alteration of enhancers may influence the immune and inflammatory responses in relation to diabetes.

Scope of review

Results from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) combined with functional and integrative analyses have elucidated the impacts of some diabetes risk-associated variants that are involved in the regulation of the immune system. Additionally, genetic variant mapping to enhancer regions may alter enhancer status, which in turn leads to aberrant expression of inflammatory genes associated with diabetes susceptibility. The focus of this review was to provide an overview of the current indications that inflammatory processes are regulated at the genetic and epigenomic levels in diabetes, along with perspectives on future research avenues that may improve understanding of the disease.

Major conclusions

In this review, we provide genetic evidence in support of a deregulated immune response as a risk factor in diabetes. We also argue about the importance of enhancer regions in the regulation of immune cell polarisation and how the recent advances using genome-wide methods for enhancer identification have enabled the determination of the impact of enhancer genetic variation on diabetes onset and phenotype. This could eventually lead to better management plans and improved treatment responses in human diabetes.

Sequence-structure-function relationships in class I MHC: A local frustration perspective

Class I Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) binds short antigenic peptides with the help of Peptide Loading Complex (PLC), and presents them to T-cell Receptors (TCRs) of cytotoxic T-cells and Killer-cell Immunglobulin-like Receptors (KIRs) of Natural Killer (NK) cells. With more than 10000 alleles, human MHC (Human Leukocyte Antigen, HLA) is the most polymorphic protein in humans. This allelic diversity provides a wide coverage of peptide sequence space, yet does not affect the three-dimensional structure of the complex. Moreover, TCRs mostly interact with HLA in a common diagonal binding mode, and KIR-HLA interaction is allele-dependent. With the aim of establishing a framework for understanding the relationships between polymorphism (sequence), structure (conserved fold) and function (protein interactions) of the human MHC, we performed here a local frustration analysis on pMHC homology models covering 1436 HLA I alleles. An analysis of local frustration profiles indicated that (1) variations in MHC fold are unlikely due to minimally-frustrated and relatively conserved residues within the HLA peptide-binding groove, (2) high frustration patches on HLA helices are either involved in or near interaction sites of MHC with the TCR, KIR, or tapasin of the PLC, and (3) peptide ligands mainly stabilize the F-pocket of HLA binding groove.

Effect of bacillus bacterial extracts on the expression of major histocompatibility complex Class I and Class II receptors on MDA-MB 231 breast cancer cells

OBJECTIVE

The expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-ABC and HLA-DR is linked to the development of breast cancer. This study was aimed to determine the effect of bacillus bacterial extracts on the expression of the major histocompatibility complexes (MHC) Class I and Class II receptors on breast cancer cells.

METHODS

The expression of HLA-ABC and HLA-DR was assessed by flow cytometry and confocal microscope on the human breast tumor cell lines MDA-MB-231, which used a readily accessible model system. It is postulated that the HLA-ABC and HLA-DR receptors might be regulated by bacillus bacterial extracts designated (RA10, RA4, RA7, and RA16).

RESULTS

It was observed that the treatment of cell line MDA-MB-231 with the RA10 resulted in an upregulation of the cell surface expression of the HLA-A, B, C receptors. It was observed that RA10 has the capacity to reduce the expression of HLA-A, B, C, it also shows a detectable degree of cytotoxicity when used at high concentrations. The data show that the cell surface expression of HLA-ABC is higher than HLA-DR. No significant changes of HLA-DR expression were observed on MDA-MB-231 cell lines.

CONCLUSIONS

Improved understanding of the connection between HLA-ABC, HLA-DR, and bacterial extracts such as RA10 may lead to the development of drug design and therapies related to breast cancer condition in which these receptors are involved.

Genetic association of molecular traits: A help to identify causative variants in complex diseases

In the past 15 years, major progresses have been made in the understanding of the genetic basis of regulation of gene expression. These new insights have revolutionized our approach to resolve the genetic variation underlying complex diseases. Gene transcript levels were the first expression phenotypes that were studied. They are heritable and therefore amenable to genome-wide association studies. The genetic variants that modulate them are called expression quantitative trait loci. Their study has been extended to other molecular quantitative trait loci (molQTLs) that regulate gene expression at the various levels, from chromatin state to cellular responses. Altogether, these studies have generated a wealth of basic information on the genome-wide patterns of gene expression and their inter-individual variation. Most importantly, molQTLs have become an invaluable asset in the genetic study of complex diseases. Although the identification of the disease-causing variants on the basis of their overlap with molQTLs requires caution, molQTLs can help to prioritize the relevant candidate gene(s) in the disease-associated regions and bring a functional interpretation of the associated variants, therefore, bridging the gap between genotypes and clinical phenotypes.

Immunity and mental illness: findings from a Danish population-based immunogenetic study of seven psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes encode proteins with important roles in the regulation of the immune system. Many studies have also implicated HLA genes in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. However, these studies usually focus on one disorder and/or on one HLA candidate gene, often with small samples. Here, we access a large dataset of 65,534 genotyped individuals consisting of controls (N = 19,645) and cases having one or more of autism spectrum disorder (N = 12,331), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (N = 14,397), schizophrenia (N = 2401), bipolar disorder (N = 1391), depression (N = 18,511), anorexia (N = 2551) or intellectual disability (N = 3175). We imputed participants' HLA alleles to investigate the involvement of HLA genes in these disorders using regression models. We found a pronounced protective effect of DPB1*1501 on susceptibility to autism (p = 0.0094, OR = 0.72) and intellectual disability (p = 0.00099, OR = 0.41), with an increased protective effect on a comorbid diagnosis of both disorders (p = 0.003, OR = 0.29). We also identified a risk allele for intellectual disability, B*5701 (p = 0.00016, OR = 1.33). Associations with both alleles survived FDR correction and a permutation procedure. We did not find significant evidence for replication of previously-reported associations for autism or schizophrenia. Our results support an implication of HLA genes in autism and intellectual disability, which requires replication by other studies. Our study also highlights the importance of large sample sizes in HLA association studies.

Multiplicative fitness, rapid haplotype discovery, and fitness decay explain evolution of human MHC

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a central component of the vertebrate immune system and hence evolves in the regime of a host-pathogen evolutionary race. The MHC is associated with quantitative traits which directly affect fitness and are subject to selection pressure. The evolution of haplotypes at the MHC HLA (HLA) locus is generally thought to be governed by selection for increased diversity that is manifested in overdominance and/or negative frequency-dependent selection (FDS). However, recently, a model combining purifying selection on haplotypes and balancing selection on alleles has been proposed. We compare the predictions of several population dynamics models of haplotype frequency evolution to the distributions derived from 6.59-million-donor HLA typings from the National Marrow Donor Program registry. We show that models that combine a multiplicative fitness function, extremely high haplotype discovery rates, and exponential fitness decay over time produce the best fit to the data for most of the analyzed populations. In contrast, overdominance is not supported, and population substructure does not explain the observed haplotype frequencies. Furthermore, there is no evidence of negative FDS. Thus, multiplicative fitness, rapid haplotype discovery, and rapid fitness decay appear to be the major factors shaping the HLA haplotype frequency distribution in the human population.

Distribution of ancient α1 and α2 domain lineages between two classical MHC class I genes and their alleles in grass carp

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules play a crucial role in the immune response by binding and presenting pathogen-derived peptides to specific CD8⁺ T cells. From cDNA of 20 individuals of wild grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), we could amplify one or two alleles each of classical MHC class I genes Ctid-UAA and Ctid-UBA. In total, 27 and 22 unique alleles of Ctid-UAA and Ctid-UBA were found. The leader, α1, transmembrane and cytoplasmic regions distinguish between Ctid-UAA and Ctid-UBA, and their encoded α1 domain sequences belong to the ancient lineages α1-V and α1-II, respectively, which separated several hundred million years ago. However, Ctid-UAA and Ctid-UBA share allelic lineage variation in their α2 and α3 sequences, in a pattern suggestive of past interlocus recombination events that transferred α2+α3 fragments. The allelic Ctid-UAA and Ctid-UBA variation involves ancient variation between domain lineages α2-I and α2-II, which in the present study was dated back to before the ancestral separation of teleost fish and spotted gar (> 300 million years ago). This is the first report with compelling evidence that recombination events combining different ancient α1 and α2 domain lineages had a major impact on the allelic variation of two different classical MHC class I genes within the same species.

Bioinformatics Protocols for Quickly Obtaining Large-Scale Data Sets for Phylogenetic Inferences

Useful insight into the evolution of genes and gene families can be provided by the analysis of all available genome datasets rather than just a few, which are usually those of model species. Handling and transforming such datasets into the desired format for downstream analyses is, however, often a difficult and time-consuming task for researchers without a background in informatics. Therefore, we present two simple and fast protocols for data preparation, using an easy-to-install, open-source, cross-platform software application with user-friendly, rich graphical user interface (SEDA; http://www.sing-group.org/seda/index.html ). The first protocol is a substantial improvement over one recently published (López-Fernández et al. Practical applications of computational biology and bioinformatics, 12th International conference. Springer, Cham, pp 88-96 (2019)[1]), which was used to study the evolution of GULO, a gene that encodes the enzyme responsible for the last step of vitamin C synthesis. In this paper, we show how the sequence data file used for the phylogenetic analyses can now be obtained much faster by changing the way coding sequence isoforms are removed, using the newly implemented SEDA operation "Remove isoforms". This protocol can be used to easily show that putative functional GULO genes are present in several Prostotomian groups such as Molluscs, Priapulida and Arachnida. Such findings could have been easily missed if only a few Protostomian model species had been used. The second protocol allowed us to identify positively selected amino acid sites in a set of 19 primate HLA immunity genes. Interestingly, the proteins encoded by MHC class II genes can show just as many positively selected amino acid sites as those encoded by classical MHC class I genes. Although a significant percentage of codons, which can be as high as 14.8%, are evolving under positive selection, the main mode of evolution of HLA immunity genes is purifying selection. Using a large number of primate species, the probability of missing the identification of positively selected amino acid sites is lower. Both projects were performed in less than one week, and most of the time was spent running the analyses rather than preparing the files. Such protocols can be easily adapted to answer many other questions using a phylogenetic approach.

Architecture of polymorphisms in the human genome reveals functionally important and positively selected variants in immune response and drug transporter genes

Background

Genetic polymorphisms can contribute to phenotypic differences amongst individuals, including disease risk and drug response. Characterization of genetic polymorphisms that modulate gene expression and/or protein function may facilitate the identification of the causal variants. Here, we present the architecture of genetic polymorphisms in the human genome focusing on those predicted to be potentially functional/under natural selection and the pathways that they reside.

Results

In the human genome, polymorphisms that directly affect protein sequences and potentially affect function are the most constrained variants with the lowest single-nucleotide variant (SNV) density, least population differentiation and most significant enrichment of rare alleles. SNVs which potentially alter various regulatory sites, e.g. splicing regulatory elements, are also generally under negative selection.

Interestingly, genes that regulate the expression of transcription/splicing factors and histones are conserved as a higher proportion of these genes is non-polymorphic, contain ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) and/or has no non-synonymous SNVs (nsSNVs)/coding INDELs. On the other hand, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are the most polymorphic with SNVs potentially affecting the binding of transcription/splicing factors and microRNAs (miRNA) exhibiting recent positive selection (RPS). The drug transporter genes carry the most number of potentially deleterious nsSNVs and exhibit signatures of RPS and/or population differentiation. These observations suggest that genes that interact with the environment are highly polymorphic and targeted by RPS.

Conclusions

In conclusion, selective constraints are observed in coding regions, master regulator genes, and potentially functional SNVs. In contrast, genes that modulate response to the environment are highly polymorphic and under positive selection.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s40246-018-0175-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Epigenetic Optical Mapping of 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine in Nanochannel Arrays

The epigenetic mark 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) is a distinct product of active DNA demethylation that is linked to gene regulation, development, and disease. In particular, 5-hmC levels dramatically decline in many cancers, potentially serving as an epigenetic biomarker. The noise associated with next-generation 5-hmC sequencing hinders reliable analysis of low 5-hmC containing tissues such as blood and malignant tumors. Additionally, genome-wide 5-hmC profiles generated by short-read sequencing are limited in providing long-range epigenetic information relevant to highly variable genomic regions, such as the 3.7 Mbp disease-related Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) region. We present a long-read, highly sensitive single-molecule mapping technology that generates hybrid genetic/epigenetic profiles of native chromosomal DNA. The genome-wide distribution of 5-hmC in human peripheral blood cells correlates well with 5-hmC DNA immunoprecipitation (hMeDIP) sequencing. However, the long single-molecule read-length of 100 kbp to 1 Mbp produces 5-hmC profiles across variable genomic regions that failed to show up in the sequencing data. In addition, optical 5-hmC mapping shows a strong correlation between the 5-hmC density in gene bodies and the corresponding level of gene expression. The single-molecule concept provides information on the distribution and coexistence of 5-hmC signals at multiple genomic loci on the same genomic DNA molecule, revealing long-range correlations and cell-to-cell epigenetic variation.

What has GWAS done for HLA and disease associations?

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is located in chromosome 6p21 and contains crucial regulators of immune response, including human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genes, alongside other genes with nonimmunological roles. More recently, a repertoire of noncoding RNA genes, including expressed pseudogenes, has also been identified. The MHC is the most gene dense and most polymorphic part of the human genome. The region exhibits haplotype-specific linkage disequilibrium patterns, contains the strongest cis- and trans-eQTLs/meQTLs in the genome and is known as a hot spot for disease associations. Another layer of complexity is provided to the region by the extreme structural variation and copy number variations. While the HLA-B gene has the highest number of alleles, the HLA-DR/DQ subregion is structurally most variable and shows the highest number of disease associations. Reliance on a single reference sequence has complicated the design, execution and analysis of GWAS for the MHC region and not infrequently, the MHC region has even been excluded from the analysis of GWAS data. Here, we contrast features of the MHC region with the rest of the genome and highlight its complexities, including its functional polymorphisms beyond those determined by single nucleotide polymorphisms or single amino acid residues. One of the several issues with customary GWAS analysis is that it does not address this additional layer of polymorphisms unique to the MHC region. We highlight alternative approaches that may assist with the analysis of GWAS data from the MHC region and unravel associations with all functional polymorphisms beyond single SNPs. We suggest that despite already showing the highest number of disease associations, the true extent of the involvement of the MHC region in disease genetics may not have been uncovered.

LDSplitDB: a database for studies of meiotic recombination hotspots in MHC using human genomic data

Background

Meiotic recombination happens during the process of meiosis when chromosomes inherited from two parents exchange genetic materials to generate chromosomes in the gamete cells. The recombination events tend to occur in narrow genomic regions called recombination hotspots. Its dysregulation could lead to serious human diseases such as birth defects. Although the regulatory mechanism of recombination events is still unclear, DNA sequence polymorphisms have been found to play crucial roles in the regulation of recombination hotspots.

Method

To facilitate the studies of the underlying mechanism, we developed a database named LDSplitDB which provides an integrative and interactive data mining and visualization platform for the genome-wide association studies of recombination hotspots. It contains the pre-computed association maps of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region in the 1000 Genomes Project and the HapMap Phase III datasets, and a genome-scale study of the European population from the HapMap Phase II dataset. Besides the recombination profiles, related data of genes, SNPs and different types of epigenetic modifications, which could be associated with meiotic recombination, are provided for comprehensive analysis. To meet the computational requirement of the rapidly increasing population genomics data, we prepared a lookup table of 400 haplotypes for recombination rate estimation using the well-known LDhat algorithm which includes all possible two-locus haplotype configurations.

Conclusion

To the best of our knowledge, LDSplitDB is the first large-scale database for the association analysis of human recombination hotspots with DNA sequence polymorphisms. It provides valuable resources for the discovery of the mechanism of meiotic recombination hotspots. The information about MHC in this database could help understand the roles of recombination in human immune system.

Database URL

http://histone.scse.ntu.edu.sg/LDSplitDB

General Prediction of Peptide-MHC Binding Modes Using Incremental Docking: A Proof of Concept

The class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is capable of binding peptides derived from intracellular proteins and displaying them at the cell surface. The recognition of these peptide-MHC (pMHC) complexes by T-cells is the cornerstone of cellular immunity, enabling the elimination of infected or tumoral cells. T-cell-based immunotherapies against cancer, which leverage this mechanism, can greatly benefit from structural analyses of pMHC complexes. Several attempts have been made to use molecular docking for such analyses, but pMHC structure remains too challenging for even state-of-the-art docking tools. To overcome these limitations, we describe the use of an incremental meta-docking approach for structural prediction of pMHC complexes. Previous methods applied in this context used specific constraints to reduce the complexity of this prediction problem, at the expense of generality. Our strategy makes no assumption and can potentially be used to predict binding modes for any pMHC complex. Our method has been tested in a re-docking experiment, reproducing the binding modes of 25 pMHC complexes whose crystal structures are available. This study is a proof of concept that incremental docking strategies can lead to general geometry prediction of pMHC complexes, with potential applications for immunotherapy against cancer or infectious diseases.

Highly conserved extended haplotypes of the major histocompatibility complex and their relationship to multiple sclerosis susceptibility

Objective

To determine the relationship between highly-conserved extended-haplotypes (CEHs) in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and MS-susceptibility.

Background

Among the ~200 MS-susceptibility regions, which are known from genome-wide analyses of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the MHC accounts for roughly a third of the currently explained variance and the strongest MS-associations are for certain Class II alleles (e.g., HLA-DRB1*15:01; HLA-DRB1*03:01; and HLA-DRB1*13:03), which frequently reside on CEHs within the MHC.

Design/Methods

Autosomal SNPs (441,547) from 11,376 MS cases and 18,872 controls in the WTCCC dataset were phased. The most significant MS associated SNP haplotype was composed of 11 SNPs in the MHC Class II region surrounding the HLA-DRB1 gene. We also phased alleles at the HLA-A, HLA-C, HLA-B, HLA-DRB1, and HLA-DQB1 loci. This data was used to probe the relationship between CEHs and MS susceptibility.

Results

We phased a total of 59,884 extended haplotypes (HLA-A, HLA-C, HLA-B, HLA-DRB1, HLA-DQB1 and SNP haplotypes) from 29,942 individuals. Of these, 10,078 unique extended haplotypes were identified. The 10 most common CEHs accounted for 22% (13,302) of the total. By contrast, the 8,446 least common extended haplotypes also accounted for approximately 20% (12,298) of the total. This extreme frequency-disparity among extended haplotypes necessarily complicates interpretation of reported disease-associations with specific HLA alleles. In particular, the HLA motif HLA-DRB1*15:01~HLA-DQB1*06:02 is strongly associated with MS risk. Nevertheless, although this motif is almost always found on the a1 SNP haplotype, it can rarely be found on others (e.g., a27 and a36), and, in these cases, it seems to have no apparent disease-association (OR = 0.7; CI = 0.3–1.3 and OR = 0.7; CI = 0.2–2.2, respectively). Furthermore, single copy carriers of the a1 SNP-haplotype without this HLA motif still have an increased disease risk (OR = 2.2; CI = 1.2–3.8). In addition, even among the set of CEHs, which carry the Class II motif of HLA-DRB1*15:01~HLA-DQB1*06:02~a1, different CEHs have differing strengths in their MS-associations.

Conclusions

The MHC in diverse human populations consists, primarily, of a very small collection of very highly-selected CEHs. Our findings suggest that the MS-association with the HLA-DRB1*15:01~HLA-DQB1*06:02 haplotype may be due primarily to the combined attributes of the CEHs on which this particular HLA-motif often resides.

Conserved Binding Regions Provide the Clue for Peptide-Based Vaccine Development: A Chemical Perspective

Synthetic peptides have become invaluable biomedical research and medicinal chemistry tools for studying functional roles, i.e., binding or proteolytic activity, naturally-occurring regions’ immunogenicity in proteins and developing therapeutic agents and vaccines. Synthetic peptides can mimic protein sites; their structure and function can be easily modulated by specific amino acid replacement. They have major advantages, i.e., they are cheap, easily-produced and chemically stable, lack infectious and secondary adverse reactions and can induce immune responses via T- and B-cell epitopes. Our group has previously shown that using synthetic peptides and adopting a functional approach has led to identifying Plasmodium falciparumconserved regions binding to host cells. Conserved high activity binding peptides’ (cHABPs) physicochemical, structural and immunological characteristics have been taken into account for properly modifying and converting them into highly immunogenic, protection-inducing peptides (mHABPs) in the experimental Aotus monkey model. This article describes stereo–electron and topochemical characteristics regarding major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-mHABP-T-cell receptor (TCR) complex formation. Some mHABPs in this complex inducing long-lasting, protective immunity have been named immune protection-inducing protein structures (IMPIPS), forming the subunit components in chemically synthesized vaccines. This manuscript summarizes this particular field and adds our recent findings concerning intramolecular interactions (H-bonds or π-interactions) enabling proper IMPIPS structure as well as the peripheral flanking residues (PFR) to stabilize the MHCII-IMPIPS-TCR interaction, aimed at inducing long-lasting, protective immunological memory.

Interpreting T-Cell Cross-reactivity through Structure: Implications for TCR-Based Cancer Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy has become one of the most promising avenues for cancer treatment, making use of the patient’s own immune system to eliminate cancer cells. Clinical trials with T-cell-based immunotherapies have shown dramatic tumor regressions, being effective in multiple cancer types and for many different patients. Unfortunately, this progress was tempered by reports of serious (even fatal) side effects. Such therapies rely on the use of cytotoxic T-cell lymphocytes, an essential part of the adaptive immune system. Cytotoxic T-cells are regularly involved in surveillance and are capable of both eliminating diseased cells and generating protective immunological memory. The specificity of a given T-cell is determined through the structural interaction between the T-cell receptor (TCR) and a peptide-loaded major histocompatibility complex (MHC); i.e., an intracellular peptide–ligand displayed at the cell surface by an MHC molecule. However, a given TCR can recognize different peptide–MHC (pMHC) complexes, which can sometimes trigger an unwanted response that is referred to as T-cell cross-reactivity. This has become a major safety issue in TCR-based immunotherapies, following reports of melanoma-specific T-cells causing cytotoxic damage to healthy tissues (e.g., heart and nervous system). T-cell cross-reactivity has been extensively studied in the context of viral immunology and tissue transplantation. Growing evidence suggests that it is largely driven by structural similarities of seemingly unrelated pMHC complexes. Here, we review recent reports about the existence of pMHC “hot-spots” for cross-reactivity and propose the existence of a TCR interaction profile (i.e., a refinement of a more general TCR footprint in which some amino acid residues are more important than others in triggering T-cell cross-reactivity). We also make use of available structural data and pMHC models to interpret previously reported cross-reactivity patterns among virus-derived peptides. Our study provides further evidence that structural analyses of pMHC complexes can be used to assess the intrinsic likelihood of cross-reactivity among peptide-targets. Furthermore, we hypothesize that some apparent inconsistencies in reported cross-reactivities, such as a preferential directionality, might also be driven by particular structural features of the targeted pMHC complex. Finally, we explain why TCR-based immunotherapy provides a special context in which meaningful T-cell cross-reactivity predictions can be made.

Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis: Genes, Environment, and a Comprehensive Therapeutic Approach

BACKGROUND

Pediatric multiple sclerosis is an increasingly recognized and studied disorder that accounts for 3% to 10% of all patients with multiple sclerosis. The risk for pediatric multiple sclerosis is thought to reflect a complex interplay between environmental and genetic risk factors.

MAIN FINDINGS

Environmental exposures, including sunlight (ultraviolet radiation, vitamin D levels), infections (Epstein-Barr virus), passive smoking, and obesity, have been identified as potential risk factors in youth. Genetic predisposition contributes to the risk of multiple sclerosis, and the major histocompatibility complex on chromosome 6 makes the single largest contribution to susceptibility to multiple sclerosis. With the use of large-scale genome-wide association studies, other non-major histocompatibility complex alleles have been identified as independent risk factors for the disease. The bridge between environment and genes likely lies in the study of epigenetic processes, which are environmentally-influenced mechanisms through which gene expression may be modified.

CONCLUSIONS

This article will review these topics to provide a framework for discussion of a comprehensive approach to counseling and ultimately treating the pediatric patient with multiple sclerosis.

Unique Allelic eQTL Clusters in Human MHC Haplotypes

The control of gene regulation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) remains poorly understood, despite several expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) studies revealing an association of MHC gene expression with independent tag-single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). MHC haplotype variation may exert a greater effect on gene expression phenotype than specific single variants. To explore the effect of MHC haplotype sequence diversity on gene expression phenotypes across the MHC, we examined the MHC transcriptomic landscape at haplotype-specific resolution for three prominent MHC haplotypes (A2-B46-DR9, A33-B58-DR3, and A1-B8-DR3) derived from MHC-homozygous B-lymphoblastoid cell lines (B-LCLs). We demonstrate that MHC-wide gene expression patterns are dictated by underlying haplotypes, and identify 36 differentially expressed genes. By mapping these haplotype sequence variations to known eQTL, we provide evidence that unique allelic combinations of eQTL, embedded within haplotypes, are correlated with the level of expression of 17 genes. Interestingly, the influence of haplotype sequence on gene expression is not homogenous across the MHC. We show that haplotype sequence polymorphisms within or proximate to HLA-A, HLA-C, C4A, and HLA-DRB regions exert haplotype-specific gene regulatory effects, whereas the expression of genes in other parts of the MHC region are not affected by the haplotype sequence. Overall, we demonstrate that MHC haplotype sequence diversity can impact phenotypic outcome via the alteration of transcriptional variability, indicating that a haplotype-based approach is fundamental for the assessment of trait associations in the MHC.

Post-operative atrial fibrillation examined using whole-genome RNA sequencing in human left atrial tissue

Background

Both ambulatory atrial fibrillation (AF) and post-operative AF (poAF) are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Analyzing the tissue-specific gene expression in the left atrium (LA) can identify novel genes associated with AF and further the understanding of the mechanism by which previously identified genetic variants associated with AF mediate their effects.

Methods

LA free wall samples were obtained intraoperatively immediately prior to mitral valve surgery in 62 Caucasian individuals. Gene expression was quantified on mRNA harvested from these samples using RNA sequencing. An expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis was performed, comparing gene expression between different genotypes of 1.0 million genetic markers, emphasizing genomic regions and genes associated with AF.

Results

Comparison of whole-genome expression between patients who later developed poAF and those who did not identified 23 differentially expressed genes. These included genes associated with the resting membrane potential modified by potassium currents, as well as genes within Wnt signaling and cyclic GMP metabolism. The eQTL analysis identified 16,139 cis eQTL relationships in the LA, including several involving genes and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) linked to AF. A previous relationship between rs3744029 and MYOZ1 expression was confirmed, and a novel relationship between rs6795970 and the expression of the SCN10A gene was identified.

Conclusions

The current study is the first analysis of the human LA expression landscape using high-throughput RNA sequencing. Several novel genes and variants likely involved in AF pathogenesis were identified, thus furthering the understanding of how variants associated with AF mediate their effects via altered gene expression.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT00833313, registered 5. January 2009

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12920-017-0270-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

High resolution HLA haplotyping by imputation for a British population bioresource

This study aimed to establish the occurrence and frequency of HLA alleles and haplotypes for a healthy British Caucasian population bioresource from Oxfordshire. We present the results of imputation from HLA SNP genotyping data using SNP2HLA for 5553 individuals from Oxford Biobank, defining one- and two-field alleles together with amino acid polymorphisms. We show that this achieves a high level of accuracy with validation using sequence-specific primer amplification PCR. We define six- and eight-locus HLA haplotypes for this population by Bayesian methods implemented using PHASE. We determine patterns of linkage disequilibrium and recombination for these individuals involving classical HLA loci and show how analysis within a haplotype block structure may be more tractable for imputed data. Our findings contribute to knowledge of HLA diversity in healthy populations and further validate future large-scale use of HLA imputation as an informative approach in population bioresources.

Luminex-Based Methods in High-Resolution HLA Typing

Luminex-based technology has been applied to discriminate between the different Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) alleles. The typing method consists in a reverse-SSO assay: Target DNA is PCR-amplified using biotinylated group-specific primers. A single PCR reaction is used for each HLA locus. The biotinylated PCR product is chemically denatured using a pH change and allowed to rehybridize to complementary DNA probes conjugated to microspheres. These beads are characterized by two internal fluorescent dyes that create a unique combination of color, make them identifiable. Washes are performed to eliminate any additional PCR product that does not exactly match the sequence detected by the probe. The biotinylated PCR product bound to the microsphere is labelled with streptavidin conjugated with R-phycoerythrin (SAPE). A flow analyzer identifies the fluorescent intensity SAPE on each microsphere. Software is used to assign positive or negative reactions based on the strength of the fluorescent signal. The assignment of the HLA typing is based on positive and negative probe reactions compared with published HLA gene sequences. Recently kits characterized by an extensive number of probes/beads designed to potentially reduce the number of ambiguities or to directly lead to an allele level typing, have been made available.

Alleles of HLA-DRB1*04 Associated with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Amazon Brazilian Population

Immunogenetic host factors are associated with susceptibility or protection to tuberculosis (TB). Strong associations of HLA class II genes with TB are reported. We analyzed the HLA-DRB1*04 alleles to identify subtypes associated with pulmonary TB and their interaction with risk factors such as alcohol, smoking, and gender in 316 pulmonary TB patients and 306 healthy individuals from the Brazilian Amazon. The HLA-DRB1*04 was prevalent in patients with pulmonary TB (p<0.0001; OR = 2.94; 95% CI = 2.12 to 4.08). Direct nucleotide sequencing of DRB1 exon 2 identified nine subtypes of HLA-DRB1*04. The subtype HLA-DRB1*04:11:01 (p = 0.0019; OR = 2.23; 95% CI = 1.34 to 3.70) was associated with susceptibility to pulmonary TB while DRB1*04:07:01 (p<0.0001; OR = 0.02; 95% CI = 0.001 to 0.33) to protection. Notably, the interaction between alcohol and HLA-DRB1*04:11:01 increased the risk for developing pulmonary TB (p = 0.0001; OR = 51.3; 95% CI = 6.81 to 386). Multibacillary pulmonary TB, the clinical presentation of disease transmission, was strongly associated with interaction to alcohol (p = 0.0026; OR = 11.1; 95% CI = 3.99 to 30.9), HLA-DRB1*04:11:01 (p = 0.0442; OR = 2.01; 95% CI = 1.03 to 3.93) and DRB1*04:92 (p = 0.0112; OR = 8.62; 95% CI = 1.63 to 45.5). These results show that HLA-DRB1*04 are associated with pulmonary TB. Interestingly, three subtypes, DRB1*04:07:01, DRB1*04:11:01 and DRB1*04:92 of the HLA-DRB1*04 could be potential immunogenetic markers that may help to explain mechanisms involved in disease development.

The QTL within the H2 Complex Involved in the Control of Tuberculosis Infection in Mice Is the Classical Class II H2-Ab1 Gene

The level of susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) infection depends upon allelic variations in numerous interacting genes. In our mouse model system, the whole-genome quantitative trait loci (QTLs) scan revealed three QTLs involved in TB control on chromosomes 3, 9, and in the vicinity of the H2 complex on chromosome 17. For the present study, we have established a panel of new congenic, MHC-recombinant mouse strains bearing differential small segments of chromosome 17 transferred from the TB-susceptible I/St (H2^j) strain onto the genetic background of TB-resistant C57BL/6 (B6) mice (H2^b). This allowed narrowing the QTL interval to 17Ch: 33, 77–34, 34 Mb, containing 36 protein-encoding genes. Cloning and sequencing of the H2^j allelic variants of these genes demonstrated profound polymorphic variations compare to the H2^b haplotype. In two recombinant strains, B6.I-249.1.15.100 and B6.I-249.1.15.139, recombination breakpoints occurred in different sites of the H2-Aβ 1 gene (beta-chain of the Class II heterodimer H2-A), providing polymorphic variations in the domain β1 of the Aβ-chain. These variations were sufficient to produce different TB-relevant phenotypes: the more susceptible B6.I-249.1.15.100 strain demonstrated shorter survival time, more rapid body weight loss, higher mycobacterial loads in the lungs and more severe lung histopathology compared to the more resistant B6.I-249.1.15.139 strain. CD4⁺ T cells recognized mycobacterial antigens exclusively in the context of the H2-A Class II molecule, and the level of IFN-γ-producing CD4⁺ T cells in the lungs was significantly higher in the resistant strain. Thus, we directly demonstrated for the first time that the classical H2- Ab1 Class II gene is involved in TB control. Molecular modeling of the H2-A^j product predicts that amino acid (AA) substitutions in the Aβ-chain modify the motif of the peptide–MHC binding groove. Moreover, unique AA substitutions in both α- and β-chains of the H2-A^j molecule might affect its interactions with the T-cell receptor (TCR).

Many genes of the host regulate interactions with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and determine the level of susceptibility to, and severity of, tuberculosis (TB). Identification of these genes and their alleles is continuing and contributes new knowledge about the host-pathogen interactions. So far, forward genetic approaches (from phenotype to gene) have identified several chromosomal segments involved in genetic control of TB in mice (quantitative trait loci—QTL), but only one particular gene, Ipr1, has been identified. Here, we report the identification of a second TB-controlling gene. On the basis of a pair of mouse inbred strains with polar susceptibility to TB infection (susceptible I/St and more resistant C57BL/6) we established a panel of recombinant strains carrying small segments of Chromosome 17 from I/St on the genetic background of C57BL/6. A combination of genetic mapping, gene sequencing, TB phenotypes assessment and immunological approaches demonstrates that the H2-Ab1 gene encoding the beta-chain of the Class II heterodimer H2-A determines susceptibility to TB infection. The importance of allelic polymorphisms in Class II genes encoding antigen-presenting molecules in susceptibility to infection has been suspected. This is the first prove of this role obtained by the methods of classical forward genetics.

Intrahaplotypic Variants Differentiate Complex Linkage Disequilibrium within Human MHC Haplotypes

Distinct regions of long-range genetic fixation in the human MHC region, known as conserved extended haplotypes (CEHs), possess unique genomic characteristics and are strongly associated with numerous diseases. While CEHs appear to be homogeneous by SNP analysis, the nature of fine variations within their genomic structure is unknown. Using multiple, MHC-homozygous cell lines, we demonstrate extensive sequence conservation in two common Asian MHC haplotypes: A33-B58-DR3 and A2-B46-DR9. However, characterization of phase-resolved MHC haplotypes revealed unique intra-CEH patterns of variation and uncovered 127 single nucleotide variants (SNVs) which are missing from public databases. We further show that the strong linkage disequilibrium structure within the human MHC that typically confounds precise identification of genetic features can be resolved using intra-CEH variants, as evidenced by rs3129063 and rs448489, which affect expression of ZFP57, a gene important in methylation and epigenetic regulation. This study demonstrates an improved strategy that can be used towards genetic dissection of diseases.

Hutterite-type cataract maps to chromosome 6p21.32-p21.31, cosegregates with a homozygous mutation in LEMD2, and is associated with sudden cardiac death

BACKGROUND

Juvenile-onset cataracts are known among the Hutterites of North America. Despite being identified over 30 years ago, this autosomal recessive condition has not been mapped, and the disease gene is unknown.

METHODS

We performed whole exome sequencing of three Hutterite-type cataract trios and follow-up genotyping and mapping in four extended kindreds.

RESULTS

Trio exomes enabled genome-wide autozygosity mapping, which localized the disease gene to a 9.5-Mb region on chromosome 6p. This region contained two candidate variants, LEMD2 c.T38G and MUC21 c.665delC. Extended pedigrees recruited for variant genotyping revealed multiple additional relatives with juvenile-onset cataract, as well as six deceased relatives with both cataracts and sudden cardiac death. The candidate variants were genotyped in 84 family members, including 17 with cataracts; only the variant in LEMD2 cosegregated with cataracts (LOD = 9.62). SNP-based fine mapping within the 9.5 Mb linked region supported this finding by refining the cataract locus to a 0.5- to 2.9-Mb subregion (6p21.32-p21.31) containing LEMD2 but not MUC21. LEMD2 is expressed in mouse and human lenses and encodes a LEM domain-containing protein; the c.T38G missense mutation is predicted to mutate a highly conserved residue within this domain (p.Leu13Arg).

CONCLUSION

We performed a genetic and genomic study of Hutterite-type cataract and found evidence for an association of this phenotype with sudden cardiac death. Using combined genetic and genomic approaches, we mapped cataracts to a small portion of chromosome 6 and propose that they result from a homozygous missense mutation in LEMD2.

The immunogenetics of multiple sclerosis: A comprehensive review

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system and common cause of non-traumatic neurological disability in young adults. The likelihood for an individual to develop MS is strongly influenced by her or his ethnic background and family history of disease, suggesting that genetic susceptibility is a key determinant of risk. Over 100 loci have been firmly associated with susceptibility, whereas the main signal genome-wide maps to the class II region of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) gene cluster and explains up to 10.5% of the genetic variance underlying risk. HLA-DRB1*15:01 has the strongest effect with an average odds ratio of 3.08. However, complex allelic hierarchical lineages, cis/trans haplotypic effects, and independent protective signals in the class I region of the locus have been described as well. Despite the remarkable molecular dissection of the HLA region in MS, further studies are needed to generate unifying models to account for the role of the MHC in disease pathogenesis. Driven by the discovery of combinatorial associations of Killer-cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptor (KIR) and HLA alleles with infectious, autoimmune diseases, transplantation outcome and pregnancy, multi-locus immunogenomic research is now thriving. Central to immunity and critically important for human health, KIR molecules and their HLA ligands are encoded by complex genetic systems with extraordinarily high levels of sequence and structural variation and complex expression patterns. However, studies to-date of KIR in MS have been few and limited to very low resolution genotyping. Application of modern sequencing methodologies coupled with state of the art bioinformatics and analytical approaches will permit us to fully appreciate the impact of HLA and KIR variation in MS.