VDJ Server

Lindsay Cowell, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

In jawed vertebrates, the genes encoding antibodies (Ab) and antigen
receptors (AR) are somatically generated in lymphocytes through a DNA
recombination process. In B lymphocytes, the genes are further
diversified through gene conversion (e.g. in chickens and rabbits) or
somatic hypermutation (SHM) (e.g. in mice and humans).  As a result of
these processes, each individual has millions of unique Ab and AR
genes, although some lymphocytes in an individual will contain
identical genes as a result of cell proliferation.  The development of
specific immunity and the ability to mount an effective immune
response rely on the presence of a diverse repertoire of Ab and AR
genes and on the shifting of repertoire composition in response to
immunological events. Analysis of repertoire composition is thus
applied in a wide variety of basic research, research and development,
and clinical contexts. Despite the widespread importance of
repertoire analysis, there is no public repository for repertoire
sequence data, and no suite of analysis tools designed for use by
bench biologists and clinicians. We are developing VDJServer, a
web-accessible data management infrastructure and suite of
interoperable repertoire analysis tools.