A statistically rigorous method for determining antigenic switching networks.

ABSTRACT: Many vector-borne pathogens rely on antigenic variation to prolong infections and increase their likelihood of onward transmission. This immune evasion strategy often involves mutually exclusive switching between members of gene families that encode functionally similar but antigenically different variants during the course of a single infection. Studies of different pathogens have suggested that switching between variant genes is non-random and that genes have intrinsic probabilities of being activated or silenced. These factors could create a hierarchy of gene expression with important implications for both infection dynamics and the acquisition of protective immunity. Inferring complete switching networks from gene transcription data is problematic, however, because of the high dimensio

SUBMITTER: Noble R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3382232 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature