Related papers: Theoretical Aspects of Immunity
In the tumour microenvironment, cancer cells directly interact with both the immune system and the stroma. It is firmly established that the immune system, historically believed to be a major part of the body's defence against tumour…
Competition within the immune system may degrade immune control of viral infections. We formalize the evolution that occurs in both HIV-1 and the immune system quasispecies. Inclusion of competition in the immune system leads to a novel…
The immune response is a dynamic process by which the body determines whether an antigen is self or nonself. The state of this dynamic process is defined by the relative balance and population of inflammatory and regulatory actors which…
In this paper, after a telegraphic introduction to modern immunology, we present a simple model for the idiotypic network among antibodies and we study its relevance for the maintenance of immunological memory. We also consider the problem…
The aim of this work is to try to bridge over theoretical immunology and disordered statistical mechanics. Our long term hope is to contribute to the development of a quantitative theoretical immunology from which practical applications may…
The response of the immune system to different vaccination patterns is studied with a simple model. It is argued that the history and characteristics of the pattern defines very different secondary immune responses in the case of infection.…
The mechanisms underlying the formation of post-infection sequelae are complex and remain controversial. This hypothesis integrates Bystryn's antibody feedback phenomenon and Imbiakha's immune cost theory, proposing for the first time a…
Starting from common assumptions, we build a rate equation model for multi-strain disease dynamics in terms of immune repertoire classes. We then move to a strain-level description where a low-order closure reminiscent of a pair…
As pathogens spread in a population of hosts, immunity is built up and the pool of susceptible individuals is depleted. This generates selective pressure, to which many human RNA viruses, such as influenza virus or SARS-CoV-2, respond with…
The composition of a polyclonal antibody response is hard to measure experimentally but contains vital information about the robustness of immunity. Here, we argue that the statistics of neutralization titers alone can be used to make…
From pathogens and computer viruses to genes and memes, contagion models have found widespread utility across the natural and social sciences. Despite their success and breadth of adoption, the approach and structure of these models remain…
The efficient recognition of pathogens by the adaptive immune system relies on the diversity of receptors displayed at the surface of immune cells. T-cell receptor diversity results from an initial random DNA editing process, called VDJ…
The innate immune system, acting as the first line of host defense, senses and adapts to foreign challenges through complex intracellular and intercellular signaling networks. Endotoxin tolerance and priming elicited by macrophages are…
The symmetrical network theory is a framework for understanding the immune system, that dates back to the mid 1970s. The symmetrical network theory is based on symmetrical stimulatory, inhibitory and killing interactions between clones that…
Human language and its governing rules present a number of analogies with the organization and structure of communication and information management in living organisms. This chapter will provide a short general introduction about grammar,…
Immune repertoires rely on diversity of T-cell and B-cell receptors to protect us against foreign threats. The ability to recognize a wide variety of pathogens is linked to the number of different clonotypes expressed by an individual. Out…
When our immune system encounters foreign antigens (i.e., from pathogens), the B cells that produce our antibodies undergo a cyclic process of proliferation, mutation, and selection, improving their ability to bind to the specific antigen.…
T cells orchestrate adaptive immune responses upon activation. T cell activation requires sufficiently strong binding of T cell receptors on their surface to short peptides derived from foreign proteins bound to protein products of the…
We present a novel model that describes the within-host evolutionary dynamics of parasites undergoing antigenic variation. The approach uses a multi-type branching process with two types of entities defined according to their relationship…
Human seasonal influenza viruses evolve rapidly, enabling the virus population to evade immunity and re-infect previously infected individuals. Antigenic properties are largely determined by the surface glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA) and…