Very long haplotype tracts characterized at high resolution from HLA homozygous cell lines

The HLA region of chromosome 6 contains the most polymorphic genes in humans. Spanning similar to 5 Mbp the densely packed region encompasses approximately 175 expressed genes including the highly polymorphic HLA class I and II loci. Most of the other genes and functional elements are also polymorphic, and many of them are directly implicated in immune function or immune-related disease. For these reasons, this complex genomic region is subject to intense scrutiny by researchers with the common goal of aiding further understanding and diagnoses of multiple immune-related diseases and syndromes. To aid assay development and characterization of the classical loci, a panel of cell lines partially or fully homozygous for HLA class I and II was assembled over time by the International Histocompatibility Working Group (IHWG). Containing a minimum of 88 unique HLA haplotypes, we show that this panel represents a significant proportion of European HLA allelic and haplotype diversity (60-95 %). Using a high-density whole genome array that includes 13,331 HLA region SNPs, we analyzed 99 IHWG cells to map the coordinates of the homozygous tracts at a fine scale. The mean homozygous tract length within chromosome 6 from these individuals is 21 Mbp. Within HLA, the mean haplotype length is 4.3 Mbp, and 65 % of the cell lines were shown to be homozygous throughout the entire region. In addition, four cell lines are homozygous throughout the complex KIR region of chromosome 19 (similar to 250 kbp). The data we describe will provide a valuable resource for characterizing haplotypes, designing and refining imputation algorithms and developing assay controls.