Elena Agliari, Adriano Barra, Andrea Galluzzi, Francesco Guerra, Francesco Moauro
In this paper we extend our previous investigations on systemic features of the immune system, based on a statistical mechanics approach. In particular, we recently introduced a mean-field spin-glass model for the interaction between helper cells and the effector branches (B and K cells) able to reproduce, as emerging properties, several collective phenomena shown in real immune networks (e.g. the connection between autoimmunity and lymphoproliferative disorders or the breakdown of immunosurveillance by diminishing the amount of helpers in the system). Here, we go beyond the previous fully-connected approximation by introducing dilution in the interactions between helpers and B clones, and show that this makes the former able to orchestrate parallel strategies to fight several pathogens simultaneously. This is an important step forward toward a comprehension of these systems since dilution, which is a biological requisite, results in multitasking capabilities. The latter are indeed the core of the immune system as always multiple attacks are present in a host.
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http://arxiv.org/abs/1202.6326
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