IMGT®, the international ImMunoGeneTics information system®(http://www.imgt.org) is the global reference in immunogenetics and immunoinformatics. By its creation in 1989 by Marie-Paule Lefranc (Université de Montpellier and CNRS), IMGT® marked the advent of immunoinformatics, which emerged at the interface between immunogenetics and bioinformatics. IMGT® is specialized in the immunoglobulins (IG) or antibodies, T cell receptors (TR), major histocompatibility (MH) and proteins of the IgSF and MhSF superfamilies. IMGT® is built on the IMGT-ONTOLOGY axioms and concepts, which bridged the gap between genes, sequences and 3D structures. The concepts include the IMGT® standardized keywords (identification), IMGT® standardized labels (description), IMGT® standardized nomenclature (classification), IMGT unique numbering and IMGT Colliers de Perles (numerotation). IMGT® comprises 7 databases, 17 online tools and 15 000 pages of web resources, and provides a high-quality and integrated system for analysis of the genomic and expressed IG and TR repertoire of the adaptive immune responses, including NGS high-throughput data. Tools and databases are used in basic, veterinary and medical research, in clinical applications (mutation analysis in leukemia and lymphoma) and in antibody engineering and humanization. The IMGT/mAb-DB interface was developed for therapeutic antibodies and fusion proteins for immunological applications (FPIA). IMGT® is freely available at http://www.imgt.org.

Summary Obesity-induced inflammation mediated by immune cells in adipose tissue appears to participate in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. We show that natural killer (NK) cells in adipose tissue play an important role. High fat diet (HFD) increases NK cell numbers and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, notably TNFα, in epididymal, but not subcutaneous, fat depots. When NK cells were depleted either with neutralizing antibodies or genetic ablation in E4bp4+/− mice, obesity-induced insulin resistance improved in parallel with decreases in both adipose tissue macrophage (ATM) numbers and ATMs and adipose tissue inflammation. Conversely, expansion of NK cells following IL-15 administration or reconstitution of NK cells into E4bp4−/−mice increased both ATM numbers and adipose tissue inflammation and exacerbated HFD-induced insulin resistance. These results indicate that adipose NK cells control ATMs as an upstream regulator potentially by producing pro-inflammatory mediators including TNFα and thereby contribute to the development of obesity-induced insulin resistance.