Network interactions and the regulation of the immune response.

The article deals with the network interactions in the immune system. Different immune network theories and experiments, in which autologous anti-idiotypic reactions were detected, are analyzed. It is assumed that idiotype-anti-idiotype interactions not only participate in the regulation of the immune response but also provide for the individual spectrum of immunocompetent cell clones in the individuals. Moreover, the following issues are analyzed: 1) possible types of restriction of antigen recognition by T cells (major histocompatibility complex-restriction, idiotypic restriction, etc.), 2) anti-idiotypic reactions as a source of generation of antigen-recognizing receptor diversity, 3) possible autologous regulatory network interactions between the immune system and somatic non-lymphoid cells.