Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
4497162 Journal of Theoretical Biology 2011 11 Pages PDF
Abstract
In addition to modeling T cell activation, we also formulate a model of the proliferation of effector T cells in response to the consumption of positive growth signal, secreted throughout the T cell response. We discuss how the interaction between T cells and growth signal generates an emergent threshold detector that responds preferentially to large changes in antigen stimulation while ignoring small ones. As a final step, we discuss how the de novo generation of adaptive regulatory T cells during the latter phase of the T cell response creates a negative feedback loop that controls the duration and magnitude of the T cell response. Hence, the immune network continually adjusts to a shifting baseline of (self and non-self) antigens, and responds primarily to abrupt changes in these antigens rather than merely their presence or absence.
Related Topics
Life Sciences Agricultural and Biological Sciences Agricultural and Biological Sciences (General)
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