Cheon, HoChan (2023) Statistical analysis and mathematical modelling of lymphocyte population dynamics. PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.
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Abstract
Lymphocytes, comprising of B and T cells, are important members of the adaptive
immune system of vertebrates that play a crucial role in defending against harmful
pathogens. They are equipped with receptors capable of recognising specific antigens.
After activation, they proliferate to form an exponentially growing clone army.
Eventually, those cells cease to divide and then largely die over a period of weeks,
but leave a small number of cells, called memory cells, that can rapidly respond to
any repeated infection. To study such non-linear population dynamics, experimental
systems have been designed that generate data at the level of populations, families
and single cells to elucidate underlying mechanisms that regulate expansion, cessation,
and contraction of cell numbers.
In this thesis, we report on the development of a novel stochastic model of cellular
population dynamics, based on Hawkins et al. (2007a), that accounts for experimentally
observed correlation structure within family members. In particular, the
inheritance of cell division, cessation, and death times within a stochastic model
framework considered, and their impact on cell population dynamics are investigated.
Model assumptions are informed by datasets from time-lapse microscopy
experiments and statistically tested within the Bayesian framework. Consequences
of the dependencies are demonstrated with family trees generated by a Monte-Carlo
simulation. To assess the model's ability to extract meaningful inferences from
population-level data, we design an optimisation strategy to estimate model parameters
and investigate its accuracy and precision for a given dataset from in
vitro murine system. With the analysis pipeline, the model is applied to both
in vitro murine and human lymphocyte populations to test hypotheses and draw
meaningful biological conclusions. For instance, we demonstrate signal integration
for T cells from transgenic mice as a linear sum in a time domain, and as a result,
the model successfully recapitulates the data. Lastly, we extend the remit of the
stochastic modelling framework by exploring mechanisms of B cell differentiation
to antibody-secreting cells and their class switching to different isotypes. A simple
probabilistic model that captures molecular changes within these cells sheds light
on the process of determining the types of antibodies to produce and predicting the
magnitude associated with them.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
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Keywords: | Statistical analysis; mathematical modelling; lymphocyte population dynamics; |
Academic Unit: | Faculty of Science and Engineering > Research Institutes > Hamilton Institute |
Item ID: | 17284 |
Depositing User: | IR eTheses |
Date Deposited: | 06 Jun 2023 14:47 |
URI: | https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/17284 |
Use Licence: | This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here |
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