Welcome to the IPD-IMGT/HLA Submission Tool!
Introduction
The IPD-IMGT/HLA Database Submission Tool allows direct submission of sequences to the WHO HLA Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System. Once accepted the submitted sequence will be stored in the database and appear in the monthly updates published in HLA, Human Immunology and the International Journal of Immunogenetics.
This guide will introduce you to the HLA Submission Tool and provide step-by-step instructions on how to make a submission. If you have any questions or need further assistance please see our Submission FAQs or contact the helpdesk at ipdsubs@anthonynolan.org.
Before you start
Before making your first submission you will need to
Sequences submitted to the IPD-IMGT/HLA Database will be included in the next quarterly release after acceptance by the 
WHO Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System . We do allow submitters to withhold sequences from publication in the database for a limited time, sequences will only be withheld for a single IPD-IMGT/HLA Database release.
How to make a submission
Submissions can be made using our online
Submissions can also be made using our submission Application Program Interface (API). This allows you to make submissions programmatically and is ideal for high-throughput sequencing labs. Please ensure you have read our
What to submit?
We accept submissions of novel HLA alleles, as well as confirmations or extensions of existing alleles. Extending existing alleles to remove ambiguity in the database is strongly encouraged and helps to improve the quality of the database. Likewise confirming existing alleles which have only been identified in a single individual is also encouraged.
We recommend, wherever possible, that full coding or full genomic sequences, including all introns and exons, are submitted to minimise ambiguity included in the database.
The following table contains a summary of all the information required for a submission. For more detailed information please see our
| Section | Fields |
|---|---|
| Submission Metadata | Submitter ID, Email, Local Name, INSDC Database (INSDC Accession or ENA Study Accession) |
| Sequence Information | Locus, Sequence Type, Closest Named Allele, Description, Nucleotide Sequence, Sequence Features |
| Cell Information | Cell Name, Alias, Ancestry (Broad Ancestry, Local Designation, Country), Sex, Consanguineous, Homoygous for the HLA region, Lab of origin |
| Methodology Information | Sequencing Method, Enrichment method, Secondary methods |
Submit to INSDC vs Brokering
It is a requirement for all sequences submitted to the IPD-IMGT/HLA Database to also be available to a public sequence repository under the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC), which includes GenBank, ENA, and DDBJ. Sequences may be submitted to any of these databases independently, and the resulting accession number included in your submission to the IPD-IMGT/HLA Database.
Alternatively, the IPD-IMGT/HLA Database can broker submissions to the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) on your behalf. This is particularly useful if you are submitting multiple sequences or are unfamiliar with submitting to these databases. To use this service you will need to register a brokered ENA study through the ENA Study Registration Tool, which will provide you with an ENA Study accession to include in your submission. Once your submission has been curated by the IPD-IMGT/HLA Database we will submit the sequence to ENA and provide you with the resulting accession number. Brokering allows us to submit sequences to ENA on your behalf, while fully acknowledging you as the original submitter of the sequence.
For more information on brokering please see our ENA Study Registration Help page.
Need help?
If you have any questions or need further assistance please see our submission FAQ or contact ipdsubs@anthonynolan.org.