The International Registry of Antibody-Defined HLA Epitopes ( http://www.epregistry.com.br) has been recently established as a tool to understand humoral responses to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatches. These epitopes are defined structurally by three-dimensional molecular modeling and amino acid sequence differences between HLA antigens. So-called eplets represent essential components of HLA epitopes and they are defined by polymorphic residues. A major goal is to identify HLA epitopes that have been verified experimentally with informative antibodies. Our analysis has also included data in many publications. As of 1 November 2013, 95 HLA-ABC antibody-verified epitopes have been recorded, 62 correspond to eplets and 33 are defined by eplets paired with other residue configurations. The Registry is still a work-in-progress and will become a useful resource for HLA professionals interested in histocompatibility testing at the epitope level and investigating antibody responses to HLA mismatches in transplant patients.
Keywords: antibody; class I; epitope; eplet; human leukocyte antigen.
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