Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39821835›Full record

ArticleScience China. Life sciences2025

Long-read sequencing reveals novel genetic polymorphisms in the major histocompatibility complex region and their impacts on the Han Chinese population.

Cong Zhou, Tingting Gong, Shuhang Li, Li Jin, Shaohua Fan

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Article in Science China. Life sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Cong Zhou *State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Lab for Evolutionary Synthesis, School of Life Sciences, Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China.
Tingting Gong *State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Lab for Evolutionary Synthesis, School of Life Sciences, Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China.
Shuhang LiState Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Lab for Evolutionary Synthesis, School of Life Sciences, Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China.
Li JinState Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Lab for Evolutionary Synthesis, School of Life Sciences, Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China.
Shaohua FanState Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Lab for Evolutionary Synthesis, School of Life Sciences, Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China. shaohua_fan@fudan.edu.cn.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region are crucial for immunity and are associated with numerous diseases and phenotypes. The MHC region's complexity and high genetic diversity make it challenging to analyze using short-read sequencing (SRS) technology. We sequence the MHC region of 100 Han Chinese individuals using both long-read sequencing (LRS) and SRS platforms at approximately 30X coverage to study genetic alterations and their potential functional impacts. LRS provides significantly greater coverage of the MHC region and eight classical HLA genes, particularly at the HLA-DRB1 locus, compared with SRS. We detect 78,249 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using LRS, with 26.0% undetectable by SRS. Based on SNP and inferred HLA allele types, we construct an LRS-based MHC reference panel for the Han Chinese, containing approximately 2.6 times more genetic variants than the SRS-based Han-MHC reference panel. A phenome-wide association study assessing 26,024 phenotypes across 15 categories identifies significant associations for 7,879 independent variants (including 809 LRS-specific SNPs) with 409 phenotypes in nine categories. This analysis reveals 24 unreported HLA allele associations in the bioelectric and cellular categories. The conditional analysis identifies 530 independent signals across the 409 phenotypes, including 28 previously unreported signals of eight classical HLA genes associated with 33 phenotypes. Of the top-associated SNPs, 191 are detected by LRS only. Fine-mapping identifies 126 independent candidate causal SNPs for three immune-related cellular phenotypes, with 17 detected exclusively by LRS. Our study reveals previously unreported variants and their functional impacts in the MHC region, enhancing our understanding of genetic diversity and its potential biological implications in the Han Chinese population.

Indexed as

East Asian PeopleMajor Histocompatibility ComplexPolymorphism, Single NucleotideAllelesChinaHLA AntigensHumansPhenotypeSequence Analysis, DNAHLA Antigensgenetic diversityHLA typinglong-read sequencingmajor histocompatibility complex regionphenome-wide association study

Identifiers

PMID39821835

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.