Kourami: graph-guided assembly for novel human leukocyte antigen allele discovery

Genome Biol. 2018 Feb 7;19(1):16. doi: 10.1186/s13059-018-1388-2.

Abstract

Accurate typing of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is important because HLA genes play important roles in immune responses and disease genesis. Previously available computational methods are database-matching approaches and their outputs are inherently limited by the completeness of already known types, making them unsuitable for discovery of novel alleles. We have developed a graph-guided assembly technique for classical HLA genes, which can construct allele sequences given high-coverage whole-genome sequencing data. Our method delivers highly accurate HLA typing, comparable to the current state-of-the-art methods. Using various data, we also demonstrate that our method can type novel alleles.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Alleles*
  • Genome
  • HLA Antigens / genetics*
  • Haplotypes
  • Histocompatibility Testing / methods*
  • Humans
  • Terminology as Topic
  • Whole Genome Sequencing

Substances

  • HLA Antigens