IMGT/V-QUEST, an integrated software program for immunoglobulin and T cell receptor V-J and V-D-J rearrangement analysis

IMGT/V-QUEST, for ‘V-QUEry and STandardization’, is an integrated software program which analyses the immunoglobulin (IG) and T cell receptor (TR) rear-ranged nucleotide sequences. The extraordinary diversity of the IG and TR repertoires (1012 antibodies and 1012 TR per individual) results from several mechanisms at the DNA level: the combinatorial di-versity of the variable (V), diversity (D) and joining (J) genes, the N-diversity and, for IG, the somatic muta-tions. IMGT/V-QUEST identifies the V, D and J genes and alleles by alignment with the germline IG and TR gene and allele sequences of the IMGT reference directory. IMGT/V-QUEST delimits the structurally important features, frameworks and complementarity-determiningregions (the lastof theseformingtheanti-gen binding site), on the basis of the IMGT unique numbering. The tool localizes the somatic mutations of the IG rearranged sequences. IMGT/V-QUEST also dynamically displays a graphical two-dimensional representation, or IMGT Collier de Perles, of the IG and TR variable regions. Moreover, IMGT/V-QUEST can interact with IMGT/JunctionAnalysis for the detailed description of the V–J and V–D–J junctions, and with IMGT/PhyloGene for the construction of phylogenetic trees. IMGT/V-QUEST is currently avail-able for human andmouse, and partly for non-human primates, sheep, chondrichthyes and teleostei. IMGT/ V-QUEST is freely available a