Borghans José A M, de Boer Rob J
Theoretical Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Immunol Rev. 2007 Apr;216:35-47. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065X.2007.00497.x.
Immunology has traditionally been a qualitative science describing the cellular and molecular components of the immune system and their functions. Only quite recently have new experimental techniques paved the way for a more quantitative approach of immunology. Lymphocyte telomere lengths have been measured to get insights into the proliferation rate of different lymphocyte subsets, T-cell receptor excision circles have been used to quantify the daily output of new T cells from the thymus, and bromodeoxyuridine and stable isotope labeling have been applied to measure proliferation and death rates of naive and memory lymphocytes. A common problem of the above techniques is the translation of the resulting data into relevant parameters, such as the typical division and death rate of the different lymphocyte populations. Theoretical immunology has contributed significantly to the interpretation of such quantitative experimental data, thereby resolving diverse controversies and, most importantly, has suggested novel experiments, allowing for more conclusive and quantitative interpretations. In this article, we review a variety of different models that have been used to interpret data on lymphocyte kinetics in healthy human subjects and discuss their contributions and limitations.
传统上，免疫学是一门定性科学，描述免疫系统的细胞和分子成分及其功能。直到最近，新的实验技术才为免疫学更定量的研究方法铺平了道路。测量淋巴细胞端粒长度以深入了解不同淋巴细胞亚群的增殖率，利用T细胞受体切除环来量化胸腺每日产生的新T细胞数量，应用溴脱氧尿苷和稳定同位素标记来测量初始淋巴细胞和记忆淋巴细胞的增殖率和死亡率。上述技术的一个共同问题是将所得数据转化为相关参数，例如不同淋巴细胞群体的典型分裂率和死亡率。理论免疫学在解释此类定量实验数据方面做出了重大贡献，从而解决了各种争议，最重要的是，它还提出了新的实验，以便进行更具决定性和定量性的解释。在本文中，我们回顾了用于解释健康人类受试者淋巴细胞动力学数据的各种不同模型，并讨论了它们的贡献和局限性。
