Related papers: A graph model for the evolution of specificity in …
Divergence in antigen response of the immune network is discussed, based on shape-space modelling. The present model extends the shape-space model by introducing the evolution of specificity of idiotypes. When the amount of external antigen…
How does immune system evolve functional proteins - potent antibodies - in such a short time? We address this question using a microscopic, protein-level, sequence-based model of humoral immune response with explicitly defined interactions…
The immune system normally protects the human host against death by infection. However, when an immune response is mistakenly directed at self antigens, autoimmune disease can occur. We describe a model of protein evolution to simulate the…
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…
According to Jerne's idiotypic network hypothesis, the adaptive immune system is regulated by interactions between the variable regions of antibodies, B cells, and T cells.1 The symmetrical immune network theory2,3 is based on Jerne's…
We numerically study a dynamical system model of an idiotypic immune network with a small number of degrees of freedom. The model was originally introduced by Varela et.al., and describes antibodies interacting in a body in order to prepare…
The adaptive immune system relies on diversity of its repertoire of receptors to protect the organism from a great variety of pathogens. Since the initial repertoire is the result of random gene rearrangement, binding of receptors is not…
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 introduce a class of weighted graphs whose properties are meant to mimic the topological features of idiotypic networks, namely the interaction networks involving the B-core of the immune system. Each node is endowed with a bit-string…
Jerne's idiotypic network theory postulates that the immune response involves inter-antibody stimulation and suppression as well as matching to antigens. The theory has proved the most popular Artificial Immune System (ais) model for…
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…
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…
We investigate a model where idiotypes (characterizing B-lymphocytes and antibodies of an immune system) and anti-idiotypes are represented by complementary bitstrings of a given length d allowing for a number of mismatches (matching…
The immune system is a real-time example of an evolving system that navigates the essentially infinite complexity of protein sequence space. How this system responds to disease and vaccination is discussed. Of particular focus is the case…
We argue that immune system is an adaptive complex system. It is shown that it has emergent properties. Its network structure is of the small world network type. The network is of the threshold type, which helps in avoiding autoimmunity. It…
Adaptive humoral immunity, from the physical perspective, can be regarded as the self-organization of the binding energy landscape of antibodies. In biological terms, the humoral immune system evolves and adapts its repertoire of antigen…
We study a dynamical system model of an idiotypic immune network with a small number of degrees of freedom, mainly focusing on the effect of a threshold above which antibodies can recognise antibodies. The response of the system to…
Organisms have evolved immune systems that can counter pathogenic threats. The adaptive immune system in vertebrates consists of a diverse repertoire of immune receptors that can dynamically reorganize to specifically target the…
One strategy for winning a coevolutionary struggle is to evolve rapidly. Most of the literature on host-pathogen coevolution focuses on this phenomenon, and looks for consequent evidence of coevolutionary arms races. An alternative…
In response to pathogens, the adaptive immune system generates specific antibodies that bind and neutralize foreign antigens. Understanding the composition of an individual's immune repertoire can provide insights into this process and…