Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Schlesinger KJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4108359 | biostudies-other | 2014
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
PloS one 20140723 7
We introduce and analyze a within-host dynamical model of the coevolution between rapidly mutating pathogens and the adaptive immune response. Pathogen mutation and a homeostatic constraint on lymphocytes both play a role in allowing the development of chronic infection, rather than quick pathogen clearance. The dynamics of these chronic infections display emergent structure, including branching patterns corresponding to asexual pathogen speciation, which is fundamentally driven by the coevoluti ...[more]