Seminars & Colloquia Calendar

Abstract: Cross-immunoreactivity (CR) is a phenomenon where an antibody that is specific to one antigen may recognize another antigen. I will describe a mathematical model for diseases with CR.  For instance, many viral diseases ( e.g., influenza, HIV, HCV, dengue, SARS-COV-2) demonstrate cross-immunoreactivity. A new approach to analysis of CR suggests the existence of antigenic cooperation among viral variants which form an in-host cross-immunoreactivity network (CRN). Cooperative action of antigens results from their different capability to bind or elicit antibodies. Such cooperation allows some antigens to be hidden from the host’s immune system, which results in the phenomenon of local immunodeficiency (LI) because there is virtually no immune response to some viruses thanks to their specific positions in the cross-immunoreactivity network. The state of LI can be stable and robust already in very small CRNs. Thanks to a new mathematical model it was possible to explain all clinically and biologically observed so far phenomena in the HCV evolution/dynamics which contradicted the existed before theory.  All assumptions in the development of this model are based on clinical observations and specially conducted experiments in CDC.