Modeling and analysis of the meta-population dynamics of lymphocyte repertoires

The vertebrate adaptive immune system, with its learning and memory capabilities, is a particularly rich example of the complexity of biological systems. The most difficult challenge in immunological research is the understanding of lymphocyte repertoires—the generation of their diversity and the forces that shape the ever-changing dynamics of lymphocyte clones. The explosively growing quantities of immunological information, which are rapidly becoming available from experimental and clinical studies, necessitate the use of theoretical tools, namely, mathematical and computational modeling and bioinformatical methods of analysis. In this paper, I review several examples of problems in lymphocyte repertoire modeling and analysis, demonstrate the types of solutions employed, and highlight the contribution of these theoretical studies to immunological research.