Immunoinformatics of the V, C, and G domains: IMGT® definitive system for IG, TR and IgSF, MH, and MhSF.

By its creation in 1989, IMGT(®), the international ImMunoGeneTics information system(®) ( http://www.imgt.org , CNRS and Université Montpellier 2), marked the advent of immunoinformatics, which emerged at the interface between immunogenetics and bioinformatics. IMGT(®) is the global reference in immunogenetics and immunoinformatics. The accuracy and the consistency of the IMGT(®) data are based on the IMGT Scientific chart rules generated from the IMGT-ONTOLOGY axioms and concepts, which comprise IMGT standardized labels (DESCRIPTION), IMGT gene and allele nomenclature (CLASSIFICATION), IMGT unique numbering, and IMGT Collier de Perles (NUMEROTATION). The IMGT(®) standards have bridged the gap between genes, sequences, and three-dimensional (3D) structures for the receptors, chains, and domains. Started specifically for the immunoglobulins (IG) or antibodies and T cell receptors (TR), the IMGT-ONTOLOGY concepts have been extended to conventional genes of the immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) and major histocompatibility (MH) superfamily (MhSF), members of which are defined by the presence of at least one variable (V) or constant (C) domain, or two groove (G) domains, respectively. In this chapter, we review the IMGT(®) definitive system for the V, C, and G domains, based on the IMGT-ONTOLOGY concepts of IMGT unique numbering and IMGT Collier de Perles.