IMGT/HLA Database

IMGT/HLA Nomenclature Conversion Tool

The WHO Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System will be adopting new nomenclature for HLA allele designations from April 1st 2010. For full details see:

• http://hla.alleles.org/nomenclature/nomenclature_2009.html.

To aid in migration of data to the new nomenclature we are providing conversion tables, and this conversion tool.

The conversion tool allows you to enter an HLA allele name and will provide you with both the current and new versions of the allele name. To use simply enter the Gene Name, an asterisk, and then the allele's numerical designation in either nomenclature format.

Other Conversion Tools

The Immunogenetics Data Analysis Working Group also provides conversion tools for handling large data sets. They are developing software intended to make the analysis of immunogenomic data simpler, faster, and more consistent across studies. Currently, Allele Name Translation applications are available for download or use over the internet.

They have developed two applications that will translate non-colon-delimited HLA allele names (e.g., A*01010101) to their colon-delimited counterparts (e.g., A*01:01:01:01).

• The Allele Name Translation Tool (ANTT) is a downloadable application that translates the allele names in entire datasets, and can be customized to translate allele names between any pair of naming conventions (inlcuding user-defined naming conventions).
• Update NomenCLature (UNCL) is a web-based implementation of an R-script that translates the allele names in entire datasets. UNCL can be used by anyone with an internet connection and a modern web-browser.

These tools are both described in the following paper:

• Mack SJ, Hollenbach JA.
  Allele Name Translation Tool and Update NomenCLature: Software tools for the automated translation of HLA allele names between successive nomenclatures.
  Tissue Antigens 2010: 75:457-461
  

Information

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