Pilot study: assessment of interlaboratory variability of sequencing-based typing DNA sequence data quality

Area of Science:

• Immunogenetics
• Molecular Biology
• Clinical Diagnostics

Background:

• Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing is crucial for organ transplantation and disease association studies.
• Sequence-based typing (SBT) is a common method for high-resolution HLA allele identification.
• Ensuring consistent sequence quality across different laboratories is essential for reliable HLA typing results.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the variability of sequence quality scores in human leukocyte antigen typing using sequence-based typing (SBT) across different laboratories.
• To evaluate the utility of the Assign-SBT base call score (BCS) system for inter-laboratory sequence quality comparison.

Main Methods:

• Pilot study involving multiple laboratories performing human leukocyte antigen typing.
• Utilized sequence-based typing (SBT) methodology for HLA allele identification.
• Analyzed sequence quality scores and applied the Assign-SBT base call score (BCS) system.

Main Results:

• Significant variability in sequence quality scores was observed both within and between participating laboratories.
• The base call score (BCS) system demonstrated effectiveness in quantifying and comparing sequence quality across different laboratory settings.
• Identified a need for standardized quality metrics in sequence-based HLA typing.

Conclusions:

• Sequence quality in human leukocyte antigen typing by sequence-based typing (SBT) is not uniform across laboratories.
• The Assign-SBT base call score (BCS) system provides a valuable tool for monitoring and standardizing sequence quality in multi-laboratory SBT workflows.
• Implementing BCS-based quality control can enhance the reliability and comparability of HLA typing results globally.