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Motivation: The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) gene cluster plays a crucial role in adaptive immunity and is thus relevant in many biomedical applications. While next-generation sequencing data are often available for a patient, deducing the HLA genotype is difficult because of substantial sequence similarity within the cluster and exceptionally high variability of the loci. Established approaches, therefore, rely on specific HLA enrichment and sequencing techniques, coming at an additional cost and extra turnaround time.Result: We present OptiType, a novel HLA genotyping algorithm based on integer linear programming, capable of producing accurate predictions from NGS data not specifically enriched for the HLA cluster. We also present a comprehensive benchmark dataset consisting of RNA, exome and whole-genome sequencing data. OptiType significantly outperformed previously published in silico approaches with an overall accuracy of 97% enabling its use in a broad range of applications.Contact: szolek@informatik.uni-tuebingen.deSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Cellular and physiological responses to changes in dioxygen levels in metazoans are mediated via the posttranslational oxidation of hypoxia-inducible transcription factor (HIF). Hydroxylation of conserved prolyl residues in the HIF-␣ subunit, catalyzed by HIF prolyl-hydroxylases (PHDs), signals for its proteasomal degradation. The requirement of the PHDs for dioxygen links changes in dioxygen levels with the transcriptional regulation of the gene array that enables the cellular response to chronic hypoxia; the PHDs thus act as an oxygen-sensing component of the HIF system, and their inhibition mimics the hypoxic response. We describe crystal structures of the catalytic domain of human PHD2, an important prolyl-4-hydroxylase in the human hypoxic response in normal cells, in complex with Fe(II) and an inhibitor to 1.7 Å resolution. PHD2 crystallizes as a homotrimer and contains a double-stranded ␤-helix core fold common to the Fe(II) and 2-oxoglutarate-dependant dioxygenase family, the residues of which are well conserved in the three human PHD enzymes (PHD 1-3). The structure provides insights into the hypoxic response, helps to rationalize a clinically observed mutation leading to familial erythrocytosis, and will aid in the design of PHD selective inhibitors for the treatment of anemia and ischemic disease.erythropoietin ͉ dioxygenase ͉ hypoxic response ͉ 2-oxoglutarate I n metazoans the ␣͞␤ heterodimeric hypoxia-inducible transcription factor (HIF) (1) regulates the transcription of an array of genes including those coding for glycolytic enzymes, erythropoietin, and VEGF. The levels and transcriptional activity of the HIF-␣, but not the HIF-␤, subunit are regulated by oxygen. Hydroxylation of either Pro-402 or Pro-564 in human HIF-1␣ (2, 3) within the C-terminal oxygen-dependent degradation domain (CODDD) enables its binding to the von Hippel-Lindau protein (pVHL), a targeting element of the E3-ubiquitin ligase; subsequent ubiquitylation leads to proteasomal degradation of HIF-␣ (for reviews, see refs. 4 -7). In humans, this mechanism is augmented by hydroxylation of an asparagine residue in the C-terminal transcriptional activation domain (8); this modification blocks interaction of HIF-1␣ with the CBP͞p300 coactivator, thereby disabling HIFmediated transcription.Hydroxylation of HIF-1␣ is catalyzed by four 2-oxoglutarate (2OG) dioxygenases: three prolyl hydroxlyases (PHD 1, 2, and 3) (also known as HPH 3, 2, and 1 and EGLN 2, 1, and 3; refs. 9-11) and an asparaginyl hydroxylase [factor inhibiting HIF (FIH); refs. 12 and 13]. The available evidence implicates PHD2 as the most important HIF hydroxylase in down-regulating the hypoxic response during normoxia (5,7,14,15).The HIF hydroxylases are Fe(II) and 2OG-dependent dioxygenases (16, 17); their requirement for dioxygen has led to their characterization as cellular oxygen sensors (refs. 9 -11, 18, and 19; Fig. 1a). The first 2OG dioxygenase to be identified was procollagen prolyl-hydroxylase, which like the PHDs catalyzes trans-4-hydroxylation reactions. Pro...

KRASG12C has emerged as a promising target in the treatment of solid tumors. Covalent inhibitors targeting the mutant cysteine-12 residue have been shown to disrupt signaling by this long-“undruggable” target; however clinically viable inhibitors have yet to be identified. Here, we report efforts to exploit a cryptic pocket (H95/Y96/Q99) we identified in KRASG12C to identify inhibitors suitable for clinical development. Structure-based design efforts leading to the identification of a novel quinazolinone scaffold are described, along with optimization efforts that overcame a configurational stability issue arising from restricted rotation about an axially chiral biaryl bond. Biopharmaceutical optimization of the resulting leads culminated in the identification of AMG 510, a highly potent, selective, and well-tolerated KRASG12C inhibitor currently in phase I clinical trials (NCT03600883).

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