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International Immunology, Vol. 12, No. 10, 1371-1380, October 2000
© 2000 Japanese Society for Immunology

Immunological transitions in response to antigenic mutation during viral infection

L. M. Wahl2, B. Bittner1 and M. A. Nowak

Theoretical Biology, Institute for Advanced Study, Olden Lane, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
1 Institute for Algebra and Computational Mathematics, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria

Correspondence to: L. M. Wahl

Antigenic variation is an important factor in viral persistence and disease progression. We analyze immunological changes which occur in response to antigenic mutation during chronic viral infection. Using an established model of viral and immune system dynamics, we determine which qualitative shifts in the immune response can be elicited by the appearance of a new mutant. We find that antigenic mutation can cause dramatic shifts in the magnitude and type of anti-viral immune response. For example, the appearance of a mutant can elicit a new immune response which recognizes the original viral strain. We also find that novel strains of the virus which replicate more slowly than existing viral strains are able to invade and survive, even when the immune system is capable of mounting an immune response against the mutant.

Keywords: cytotoxic T lymphocytes, immunology, HIV, mathematical model, virology

2 Present address: Applied Mathematics, University of Western Ontario, London ON, N6A 5B7 Canada

Transmitting editor: A. J. McMichael


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