NIMBioS Tuesday Seminar Series
In conjunction with the interdisciplinary activities of the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), a seminar series will be hosted every other Tuesday at 3:30 p.m in Rm. 206, Claxton Education Building, 1122 Volunteer Blvd. (NIMBioS' new location). Seminar speakers will focus on their research initiatives at the interface of mathematics and many areas of the life sciences. Light refreshments will be served starting 30 minutes before each seminar.
Time/Date/Location: 3:30 p.m., Monday, April 30, Rm. 206, Claxton Building, 1122 Volunteer Blvd.
Speaker: Rob de Boer, Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics, Utrecht University
Topic: Analysing immune cell migration
Abstract: The visualization of the dynamic behaviour of and interactions between immune cells using time-lapse video microscopy has an important role in modern immunology. To draw robust conclusions, quantification of such cell migration is required. This is far from trivial because imaging experiments are associated with various artefacts that can affect the estimated positions of the immune cells under analysis, which form the basis of any subsequent analysis. We construct spatially explicit models of T cell and DC migration in LNs and show that several dynamical properties of T cells are a consequence of the densely packed LN environment. Our three-dimensional simulations suggest that the initial decrease in T-cell motility after antigen appearance is due to "stop signals" transmitted by activated DCs to T cells. Because imaging is typically restricted to experiments lasting 1 h, and because T cell-DC conjugates frequently move into and out of the imaged volume, it is difficult to estimate the true duration of interactions from contact data. We propose a method to properly make such an estimate of the average of the contact durations. The method is validated by testing it to our spatially explicit computer simulations. We use these techniques to analyze the migration of antigen specific CD8 T cells in the skin after localized infection with herpes simplex virus.
*Join us for refreshments in at 3 p.m.
Seminar Flyer (pdf)
NIMBioS
1122 Volunteer Blvd., Suite 106
University of Tennessee
Knoxville,
TN 37996-3410
PH: (865) 974-9334
FAX: (865) 974-9461
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