Nomenclature
IMGT nomenclature has for objective to provide immunologists and geneticists with a unique nomenclature per locus which will allow extraction and comparison of data for the complex B and T cell antigen receptor molecules, whatever the species.
The IMGT nomenclature of IG and TR genes and alleles is the official nomenclature approved by the IUIS Immunoglobulins (IG), T cell receptors (TR) and Major Histocompatibility (MH) Nomenclature Sub-Committee [16,17].
The WHO-IUIS Nomenclature Subcommitte for Immunoglobulins and T cell receptors report. Aug. 19, 2007.
[16,17]
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IMGT nomenclature for IG and TR genes of all vertebrate species [1]
is based on the 'CLASSIFICATION' concept of the IMGT-ONTOLOGY [1] and
follows the Human Gene Mapping Nomenclature rules.
This has been applied as early as 1988, for the human IGL and IGH loci [2,3],
and 1989 for all the genes of the human TRG locus [4,5].
The rules for the IG and TR IMGT gene nomenclature and IMGT allele nomenclature for sequence polymorphisms are described in the IMGT Scientific chart. - IMGT gene names and IMGT gene definitions for the human IG [6-10] and TR genes [11,12] have been approved by HGNC, the HUman Genome Organization (HUGO) Gene Nomenclature Commitee in 1999. Gene names can be searched using Genew: Human Gene Nomenclature Database Search Engine. Note that, in the HUGO symbols, slashes and parentheses are omitted, and capital letters replace the lower-case letters found in some provisional IMGT gene names. Otherwise the gene symbols and all the full names (including slashes and parentheses) are identical in IMGT and HUGO nomenclatures.
- IMGT is delegated by HGNC to assign immunoglobulin and T cell receptor gene symbols and alleles, via the IMGT/LIGM-DB database, and HLA gene symbols and alleles via the IMGT/HLA database [13].
- The IMGT nomenclature is officially recognized as the scientific community standard [14].
- Correspondence between nomenclatures are described in tables.