A branching network model for T cell dissemination in adaptive immune response

Abstract

In this paper we consider a model based on branching process theory for the proliferation and the dissemination network of T cells in the adaptive immune response. A multi-type Galton Watson branching process is assumed as the basic proliferation mechanism, associated to the migration of T cells of the different generations from the draining lymph node to the spleen and other lymphoid organs. Time recursion equations for the mean values and the covariance matrices of the the cell population counts are derived in all the compartments of the network model. Moreover, a normal approximation of the log-likelihood function of the cell relative frequencies is derived, which allows one to obtain estimates of both the probability parameters of the branching process and the migration rates in the various compartments of the network.