High-accuracy imputation for HLA class I and II genes based on high-resolution SNP data of population-specific references

Pharmacogenomics J. 2015 Dec;15(6):530-7. doi: 10.1038/tpj.2015.4. Epub 2015 Feb 24.

Abstract

Statistical imputation of classical human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles is becoming an indispensable tool for fine-mappings of disease association signals from case-control genome-wide association studies. However, most currently available HLA imputation tools are based on European reference populations and are not suitable for direct application to non-European populations. Among the HLA imputation tools, The HIBAG R package is a flexible HLA imputation tool that is equipped with a wide range of population-based classifiers; moreover, HIBAG R enables individual researchers to build custom classifiers. Here, two data sets, each comprising data from healthy Japanese individuals of difference sample sizes, were used to build custom classifiers. HLA imputation accuracy in five HLA classes (HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-DRB1, HLA-DQB1 and HLA-DPB1) increased from the 82.5-98.8% obtained with the original HIBAG references to 95.2-99.5% with our custom classifiers. A call threshold (CT) of 0.4 is recommended for our Japanese classifiers; in contrast, HIBAG references recommend a CT of 0.5. Finally, our classifiers could be used to identify the risk haplotypes for Japanese narcolepsy with cataplexy, HLA-DRB1*15:01 and HLA-DQB1*06:02, with 100% and 99.7% accuracy, respectively; therefore, these classifiers can be used to supplement the current lack of HLA genotyping data in widely available genome-wide association study data sets.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alleles
  • Asian People / genetics
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Gene Frequency / genetics
  • Genome-Wide Association Study / methods
  • Genotype
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / genetics*
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Linkage Disequilibrium / genetics
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / genetics*
  • White People / genetics

Substances

  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class I
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class II