title: Organization and evolution of synthetic idiotypic networks.
abstract: We introduce a class of weighted graphs whose properties are meant to mimic the topological features of idiotypic networks, namely, the interaction networks involving the B core of the immune system. Each node is endowed with a bit string representing the idiotypic specificity of the corresponding B cell, and the proper distance between any couple of bit strings provides the coupling strength between the two nodes. We show that a biased distribution of the entries in bit strings can yield fringes in the (weighted) degree distribution, small-world features, and scaling laws, in agreement with experimental findings. We also investigate the role of aging, thought of as a progressive increase in the degree of bias in bit strings, and we show that it can possibly induce mild percolation phenomena, which are investigated too.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italia.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Agliari
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Asti
authors.forename: Adriano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barra
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferrucci
mesh_terms: D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003196:Computer Graphics; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D018448:Models, Immunological; D013816:Thermodynamics; D013997:Time Factors