The effect of chemotaxis on T-cell regulatory dynamics

• Published in: Journal of mathematical biology Vol. 87; no. 6; p. 84
• Main Authors: Dallaston, Michael C., Birtles, Geneva, Araujo, Robyn P., Jenner, Adrianne L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.12.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Applications of Mathematics; Autoimmune diseases; Cell interactions; Cells; Chemokines; Chemotaxis; Dynamic stability; Dynamics; Immune system; Immunology; Inflammation; Inflammatory diseases; Lymphocytes T; Mathematical and Computational Biology; Mathematical models; Mathematics; Mathematics and Statistics; Multiple sclerosis; Ordinary differential equations; Partial differential equations; Pathogens; Regulation; Stability analysis; Reaction–diffusion equations; T cell dynamics; 92-08; 65M06; Instability; 92-10; Inflammation; Chemotaxis
• ISSN: 0303-6812; 1432-1416
• DOI: 10.1007/s00285-023-02017-0

Autoimmune diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis, are often modelled through the dynamics of T-cell interactions. However, the spatial aspect of such diseases, and how dynamics may result in spatially heterogeneous outcomes, is often overlooked. We consider the effects of diffusion and chemotaxis on T-cell regulatory dynamics using a three-species model of effector and regulator T-cell populations, along with a chemical signalling agent. While diffusion alone cannot lead to instability and spatial patterning, the inclusion of chemotaxis can result in multiple forms of instability that produce highly complicated spatiotemporal behaviour. The parameter regimes in which different instabilities occur are determined through linear stability analysis and the full dynamics is explored through numerical simulation.