pmTR database: population matched (PM) germline allelic variants of T-cell receptor (TR) loci

Abstract

T-cell receptor (TR) germline alleles are arranged, organized and made available to the research community by the IMGT database. This state-of-the-art database, however, does not provide information regarding population specificity and allelic frequencies of the genes all four human TR loci (TRA, TRB, TRG and TRD). The specificity of allelic variants to different human populations can, however, be a rich source of information when studying the genetic basis of population-specific immune responses in vaccination and disease. To make TR germline alleles available for such population-specific studies, we meticulously identified true germline alleles enriched with complete TR allele sequences and their frequencies across 26 different human populations, profiled by "1,000 Genomes data". We identified 205 TRAV, 249 TRBV, 16 TRGV and 5 TRDV germline alleles supported by at least four haplotypes (= minimum of two individuals). The diversity of germline allelic variants in the TR loci is highest in Africans followed by Non-African populations. A majority of the Non-African alleles are specific to the Asian populations, suggesting a diverse profile of TR germline alleles in different human populations. Interestingly, the alleles known in the IMGT database are frequent and common across all the superpopulations. We believe that this new set of genuine germline TR sequences represents a valuable new resource which we have made available through the new population-matched TR (pmTR) database, accessible via https://pmtrig.lumc.nl/.