Sensibility of the quorum growth thresholds controlling local immune responses

Abstract

The consequences of regulatory T cell (Treg) inhibition of interleukine 2 secretion are examined by mathematical modelling. We demonstrate that cytokine dependent growth exhibits quorum T cell population thresholds that determine whether immune responses develop on activation and whether the immune system returns to a control state. We study the effects in the quorum T cell population thresholds, by the T cell maximum growth rate, by the growth rate ratio between Tregs and T cells, by the value of the secretion rate of cytokines, and by the effectiveness of T cell secretion inhibition by Tregs.