Standardized Sequence and Structure Analysis of Antibody Using IMGT

Standardized sequence and structure analysis of antibody using IMGT�, the international ImMunoGeneTics information system� (http://www.imgt.org), allows to bridge, for the first time, the gap between antibody sequences and three-dimensional (3D) structures. This is achieved through the IMGT Scientific chart rules, based on IMGT-ONTOLOGY. IMGT� is the international reference for immunogenetics and immunoinformatics, and its standards (IMGT nomenclature and labels and IMGT unique numbering) are particularly useful for antibody humanization and evaluation of immunogenicity. In IMGT�, the antibody analysis from nucleotide sequence to 2D structure is supported by the widely used IMGT/V-QUEST system and the integrated IMGT/JunctionAnalysis software. The IMGT� approach from amino acid sequence to 3D structure is supported by the IMGT/DomainDisplay, IMGT/DomainGapAlign and IMGT/Collier-de-Perles tools, by some important features of IMGT/2Dstructure-DB, for antibodies for which 3D structures are not yet available (INN entries) and IMGT/3Dstructure-DB and associated tools, for crystallized antibodies (Contact analysis, IMGT/StructuralQuery, IMGT/DomainSuperimpose).