title: Mechanisms of cell division as regulators of acute immune response.
abstract: The acute adaptive immune response is complex, proceeding through phases of activation of quiescent lymphocytes, rapid expansion by cell division and cell differentiation, cessation of division and eventual death of greater than 95 % of the newly generated population. Control of the response is not central but appears to operate as a distributed process where global patterns reliably emerge as a result of collective behaviour of a large number of autonomous cells. In this review, we highlight evidence that competing intracellular timed processes underlie the distribution of individual fates and control cell proliferation, cessation and loss. These principles can be captured in a mathematical model to illustrate consistency with previously published experimentally observed data.
authors.affiliation: Immunology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052 Australia ; Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010 Australia.
authors.forename: Andrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kan
authors.affiliation: Immunology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052 Australia ; Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010 Australia.
authors.forename: Philip D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Hodgkin
keywords: B lymphocytes; Cell division; Immune regulation; Mathematical modelling