Allele frequency net: a database and online repository for immune gene frequencies in worldwide populations

Abstract

The allele frequency net database (http://www.allelefrequencies.net) is an online repository that contains information on the frequencies of immune genes and their corresponding alleles in different populations. The extensive variability observed in genes and alleles related to the immune system response and its significance in transplantation, disease association studies and diversity in populations led to the development of this electronic resource. At present, the system contains data from 1133 populations in 608 813 individuals on the frequency of genes from different polymorphic regions such as human leukocyte antigens, killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors, major histocompatibility complex Class I chain-related genes and a number of cytokine gene polymorphisms. The project was designed to create a central source for the storage of frequency data and provide individuals with a set of bioinformatics tools to analyze the occurrence of these variants in worldwide populations. The resource has been used in a wide variety of contexts, including clinical applications (histocompatibility, immunology, epidemiology and pharmacogenetics) and population genetics. Demographic information, frequency data and searching tools can be freely accessed through the website.

The extreme plasticity of killer cell Ig‐like receptor (KIR) haplotypes differentiates rhesus macaques from humans

“…One should take into account that animals from Burma and China were under represented in our cohort. In humans 396 different KIR genotypes are reported [41], whereas in the present relatively small cohort of rhesus macaques 272 genotypes were observed (Table 3). It is likely that if more samples are analyzed, it will become evident that the rhesus macaque KIR genotypes display significantly more variation than humans.…”

“…To put this into a proper context, one has to compare the numbers. To date, KIR population data have been reported for 108 human populations, of which 12.741 individuals were genotyped [41]. In this study 378 rhesus macaques from three populations (India, Burma, China) have been genotyped.…”

HLA-DR and -DQ Eplet Mismatches and Transplant Glomerulopathy: A Nested Case–Control Study

“…Respective four-digit types were assigned using the catalogue of common and well-documented (CWD) human leukocyte antigen alleles (46,(48)(49)(50)(51). The plausibility of four-digit HLA-DR and HLA-DQ types was further corroborated against the allele frequency net database, an online resource containing information on the frequencies of immune genes, their corresponding alleles and haplotypes in different populations (52). When rare HLA-DR or HLA-DQ alleles were possible, typing by sequence-specific primer polymerase chain reaction (46,47) was conducted in an effort to minimize allele misclassification.…”

Clustering of Anti-GBM Disease: Clues to an Environmental Trigger?

“…This rate is higher than previous estimates in other European populations, as discussed by Canney et al (10), most likely reflecting the methodologic inadequacies of previous studies, which were prone to ascertainment bias and unable to accurately define at-risk populations. It might also reflect the moderate over-representation of the DR2 haplotype and DRB1 risk alleles in the Irish population (11) or perhaps a genuine increase in the frequency of anti-GBM disease in recent years compared with historical cohorts.…”