In silico HLA typing using standard RNA-seq sequence reads

Abstract

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) enables high-throughput transcriptome profi ling using the RNA-Seq assay, resulting in billions of short sequence reads. Worldwide adoption has been rapid: many laboratories worldwide generate transcriptome sequence reads daily. Here, we describe methods for obtaining a sample’s human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and II types and HLA expression using standard NGS RNA- Seq sequence reads. We demonstrate the application using our algorithm, seq2HLA, and a publicly available RNA-Seq dataset from the Burkitt lymphoma cell line Raji.