Related papers: A thermodynamical perspective of immune capabiliti…
In this work we adopt a statistical mechanics approach to investigate basic, systemic features exhibited by adaptive immune systems. The lymphocyte network made by B-cells and T-cells is modeled by a bipartite spin-glass, where, following…
The similarity between neural and immune networks has been known for decades, but so far we did not understand the mechanism that allows the immune system, unlike associative neural networks, to recall and execute a large number of…
We are interested in modeling theoretical immunology within a statistical mechanics flavor: focusing on the antigen-independent maturation process of B-cells, in this paper we try to revise the problem of self vs non-self discrimination by…
The adaptive immune system of vertebrates can detect, respond to, and memorize diverse pathogens from past experience. While the clonal selection of T helper (Th) cells is the simple and established mechanism to better recognize new…
Many events in the vertebrate immune system are influenced by some element of chance. The objective of the present work is to describe affinity maturation of B lymphocytes (in which random events are perhaps the most characteristic), and to…
Pattern-diluted associative networks were introduced recently as models for the immune system, with nodes representing T-lymphocytes and stored patterns representing signalling protocols between T- and B-lymphocytes. It was shown earlier…
Understanding and modelling the complexity of the immune system is a challenge that is shared by the ImmunoComplexiT$^1$ thematic network from the RNSC. The immune system is a complex biological, adaptive, highly diversified, self-organized…
The phenomenon of immunological memory has been known for a long time. But, the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. According to the theory of clonal selection the response to a specific invading antigen (e.g., bacteria) is offered…
In the human immune system, T-helper cells are able to differentiate into two lymphocyte subsets: Th1 and Th2. The intracellular signaling pathways of differentiation form a dynamic regulation network by secreting distinctive types of…
This paper investigates the dynamics of immune response and autoimmunity with particular emphasis on the role of regulatory T cells (Tregs), T cells with different activation thresholds, and cytokines in mediating T cell activity. Analysis…
Associative network models featuring multi-tasking properties have been introduced recently and studied in the low load regime, where the number $P$ of simultaneously retrievable patterns scales with the number $N$ of nodes as $P\sim \log…
We consider self-tolerance and its failure -autoimmunity- in a minimal mathematical model of the idiotypic network. A node in the network represents a clone of B-lymphocytes and its antibodies of the same idiotype which is encoded by a…
We study the Langevin dynamics of the adaptive immune system, modelled by a lymphocyte network in which the B cells are interacting with the T cells and antigen. We assume that B clones and T clones are evolving in different thermal noise…
A major contribution to the onset and development of autoimmune disease is known to come from infections. An important practical problem is identifying the precise mechanism by which the breakdown of immune tolerance as a result of immune…
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 physical interpretation of the functioning of the adaptive immune system, which has been thoroughly characterized on genetic and molecular levels, provides a unique opportunity to define an adaptive self-organizing biological system in…
It has been known for some time that human autoimmune diseases can be triggered by viral infections. Several possible mechanisms of interactions between a virus and immune system have been analysed, with a prevailing opinion being that the…
Natural Immune system plays a vital role in the survival of the all living being. It provides a mechanism to defend itself from external predates making it consistent systems, capable of adapting itself for survival incase of changes. The…
This contribution is devoted to a new model of HIV multiplication motivated by the patent of one of the authors. We take into account the antigenic diversity through what we define "antigenicity", whether of the virus or of the adapted…
The immune system can be thought as a complex network of different interacting elements. A cellular automaton, defined in shape-space, was recently shown to exhibit self-regulation and complex behavior and is, therefore, a good candidate to…