Understanding and Modelling the Complexity of the Immune System: Systems Biology for Integration and Dynamical Reconstruction of Lymphocyte Multi-Scale Dynamics

Abstract

Understanding and modelling the complexity of the immune system is a challenge that is shared by the ImmunoComplexiT$^1$ thematic network from the RNSC. The immune system is a complex biological, adaptive, highly diversified, self-organized and degenerative cognitive network of entities, allowing for a robust and resilient system with emergent properties such as anamnestic responses and regulation. The adaptive immune system has evolved into a complex system of billions of highly diversified lymphocytes all interacting as a connective dynamic, multi-scale organised and distributed system, in order to collectively insure body and species preservation. The immune system is characterized by complexity at different levels: network organisation through fluid cell populations with inter-and intra-cell signalling, lymphocyte receptor diversity, cell clonotype selection and competition at cell level, migration and interaction inside the immunological tissues and fluid dissemination through the organism, homeostatic regulation while rapid adaptation to a changing environment.