Computational modeling of the mucosal immune system and the mechanism of balancing immunity and tolerance

Abstract

The immune system against invading microbes by releasing both stimulatory and inhibitory immune factors. While immune activation is crucial for host defense, its excessiveness can trigger autoimmune diseases, highlighting the importance of immunosuppressive regulation. Our study modeled the dynamics of mucosal immunity in the mammalian small intestine. To refine the model, constraints were imposed by integrating findings from previous experimental knowledge of the real-time behavior of the immune system. These constraints facilitated the derivation of physiologically relevant parameter sets and ensured the model's consistency with observed biological phenomena. The results show that the risk of overreaction can be minimized without significant loss of performance. We conclude that the design of immune regulation has evolved to balance host defense and tolerance to harmless microbes.