Immune repertoire high-throughput sequence analysis (IRAS) web service (65.20)

Abstract

Abstract An immune repertoire is the sum of functionally diverse B and T cells, which is shaped by genetic polymorphism, antigen exposure history and regulation and modulation of the immune system. High-throughput sequencing techniques allow us to take a snapshot of the diversity of the immune repertoire, which is a fundamental determinant of the competence of the immune system. However, many researchers are overwhelmed by the task of managing and analyzing the flooding amount of sequence data generated by next-generation DNA sequencers. To make the immune repertoire high-throughput sequencing technology accessible to greater numbers of investigators, we have developed a web based immune repertoire sequence data analysis and management system (IRAS). IRAS is backed by a Linux cluster, where V, D, J germline sequences can be mapped onto reads using the Smith-Waterman algorithm in a high-throughput manner. Mapping results are loaded into a MySQL database and reads are annotated with CDR1, 2, 3 regions. We have developed a web portal to allow easy access to those data, where 2D-plot, 3D-plot, various summary tables, statistical results and mapping alignments can be generated on the fly. The IRAS is open to public and welcome to use. Users can submit their sequence data and relevant metadata through the web portal.