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The Effect of Varying APC Size, T Cell Sensitivity, and the Diversity of Displayed Epitopes on T Cell Coexistence

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posted on 2013-02-22, 08:35 authored by Almut Scherer, Marcel Salathé, Sebastian Bonhoeffer

The per APC epitope expression level of each epitope up to which T cell coexistence is maximal depends on the size of APCs, the number of different epitope types that are presented, and the amount of epitope a T cell needs to become activated. The epitope expression level above which the immunodominant T cell population outcompetes all others solely depends on the APC size and on the amount of epitope required for T cell activation (A). In the three graphs below, the effect of changing any one of these parameters is shown.

(B) The larger the surface area of APCs, the wider the range of per APC epitope expression levels for which coexistence of T cells is maximal.

(C) The more sensitive T cells are to epitope (i.e., the lower the amount of epitope a T cell requires to become activated), the more narrow the range of epitope expression levels with maximal coexistence of T cell populations of different epitope specificity.

(D) The number of different pathogen epitopes that are presented on an APC effects the per APC epitope expression level up to which T cell coexistence is maximal, but not the level at which the immunodominant T cell specificity outcompetes the other epitope-specific T cell populations. The higher the number of different epitope types, the more narrow the range of per APC epitope expression levels at which T cell coexistence is maximal.

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