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IMGT gene name nomenclature for IG and TR of human and other vertebrates

General rules

IMGT nomenclature for immunoglobulin (IG) and T cell receptor (TR) gene names of human and other vertebrates is based on the 'CLASSIFICATION' concept of the IMGT-ONTOLOGY [1], and follows as closely as possible 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 [4-6]: Gene names in capital letters, no greek letters, no commas, no dots (hyphens are accepted, as for the HLA and MHC genes).

The three first letters indicate the locus: IGH, IGK, IGL, TRA, TRB, TRG, TRD [1-5].

The fourth letter is V (for a V-GENE), D (for a D-GENE), J (for a J-GENE) or C (for a C-GENE) (except for IGH, see below).

The following number(s) and/or letter(s) allow, if necessary, unambiguous identification of the gene, a single number or letter being used whenever it is possible: IGKC, TRGV9, TRGVA, TRAJ4...

Allele names comprise the IMGT gene name followed by an asterisk and a two-figure number and are recorded in Tables of alleles and Alignments of alleles.

IG and TR genes and alleles are not italicized in publications.

IMGT gene names

Interoperability between IMGT, HGNC and NCBI Gene

Since its creation in 1989, IMGT has delegation by HGNC and IUIS for the IG and TR genes and alleles of humans and other vertebrate species [16-21]. The IMGT nomenclature, based on IMGT-ONTOLOGY and recognized as the scientific community standard, is at the origin of immunoinformatics [22].

IMGT Repertoire

IMGT list of human IG and TR gene names

IMGT list of mouse (Mus musculus) IG and TR gene names

Correspondence between nomenclatures

References:
[1] Giudicelli, V. and Lefranc, M.-P., Bioinformatics, 15, 1047-1054 (1999) PMID: 10745995, LIGM:221 pdf
[2] Ghanem, N. et al., Exp. Clin. Immunogenet., 5, 186-195 (1988) PMID: 2908491, LIGM:63.
[3] Bensmana, M. et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 16, 3108 (1988) PMID: 3130612, LIGM:65.
[4] Human Gene Mapping 10, Cytogenet. Cell. Genet., 51, 174-175 (1989).
[5] Lefranc, M.-P., Human Gene Mapping 10, Cytogenet. Cell Genet., 51, 1031 (1989).
[6] Lefranc, M.-P. and Rabbitts T.H., Research in Immunology, 141, 615-618 (1990) PMID: 2151348, LIGM:126.
[7] Lefranc, M.-P., Current Protocols in Immunology, J. Wiley and Sons, New York supplement 40, A1.P.1-A.1P.37 (2000) LIGM:230.
[8] Lefranc, M.-P., Current Protocols in Immunology, J. Wiley and Sons, New York supplement 40, A.1O.1-A.1O.23 (2000) LIGM:231.
[9] Lefranc, M.-P., The Immunologist, 8, 80-87 (2000) LIGM:222. pdf
[10] Lefranc, M.-P., The Immunologist, 8, 72-79 (2000) LIGM:223. pdf
[11] Lefranc, M.-P. and Lefranc, G., The Immunoglobulin FactsBook, Academic Press, London, 458 pages (2001) ISBN: 012441351X.
[12] Lefranc, M.-P. and Lefranc, G., The T cell receptor FactsBook, Academic Press, London, 398 pages (2001) ISBN: 0124413528.
[13] Lefranc, M.-P., "IMGT Locus in Focus: Nomenclature of the human immunoglobulin heavy (IGH) genes", Exp. Clin. Immunogenet., 18, 100-116 (2001) PMID: 11340299, LIGM:246 pdf
[14] Lefranc, M.-P., "IMGT Locus in Focus: Nomenclature of the human immunoglobulin kappa (IGK) genes", Exp. Clin. Immunogenet., 18, 161-174 (2001) PMID: 11549845, LIGM:251 pdf
[15] Lefranc, M.-P., "IMGT Locus in Focus: Nomenclature of the human immunoglobulin lambda (IGL) genes", Exp. Clin. Immunogenet., 18, 242-254 (2001) PMID: 11872955, LIGM:254 pdf
[16] Wain, H.M. et al., Guidelines for human gene nomenclature, Genomics, 79, 464-470 (2002) PMID: 11944974
[17] Glusman, G. et al., Immunity, 15, 337-349 (2001) PMID: 11567625
[18] Wain, H.M. et al., Nucl. Acids Res., 32, D255-D257 (2004) PMID: 14681406
[19] Bruford, E.A. et al., Nucl. Acids Res., 36, D445-D448 (2008) PMID: 17984084
[20] Lefranc, M.-P., Immunogenetics, 59, 899-902 (2007), Epub 2007 Nov29 PMID: 18046549 LIGM: 335
[21] Lefranc, M.-P., WHO-IUIS Nomenclature Subcommittee for immunoglobulins and T cell receptors report August 2007, 13th International Congress of Immunology, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Dev. Comp. Immunol., 32, 461-463 (2008). Epub 2007 Nov6, doi:10.1016/j.dci.2007.09.008 PMID: 18036660 LIGM: 336 pdf with permission from Elsevier
[22] Lefranc, M.-P., Immunoglobulin (IG) and T cell receptor genes (TR): IMGT® and the birth and rise of immunoinformatics. Front Immunol. 2014 Feb 05;5:22. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2014.00022 Open access PMID: 24600447
More information:
See also:
Allele CLASSIFICATION DESCRIPTION Gene Group IDENTIFICATION IMGT Experts IMGT/GENE-DB IMGT-ONTOLOGY Mutation Nomenclature NUMEROTATION Polymorphism Probes RFLP

This page is dedicated to Alan Williams.