Sunday, July 3, 2022
SCIENMAG: Latest Science and Health News
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Scienmag - Latest science news from science magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home SCIENCE NEWS Nanotechnology

Learning to help the adaptive immune system

March 10, 2021
in Nanotechnology
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

IMAGE

Credit: Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan – Scientists from the Institute of Industrial Science at The University of Tokyo demonstrated how the adaptive immune system uses a method similar to reinforcement learning to control the immune reaction to repeat infections. This work may lead to significant improvements in vaccine development and interventions to boost the immune system.

In the human body, the adaptive immune system fights germs by remembering previous infections so it can respond quickly if the same pathogens return. This complex process depends on the cooperation of many cell types. Among these are T helpers, which assist by coordinating the response of other parts of the immune system–called effector cells–such as T killer and B cells. When an invading pathogen is detected, antigen presenting cells bring an identifying piece of the germ to a T cell. Certain T cells become activated and multiply many times in a process known as clonal selection. These clones then marshal a particular set of effector cells to battle the germs. Although the immune system has been extensively studied for decades, the “algorithm” used by T cells to optimize the response to threats is largely unknown.

Now, scientists at The University of Tokyo have used an artificial intelligence framework to show that the number of T helpers act like the “hidden layer” between inputs and outputs in an artificial neural network commonly used in adaptive learning. In this case, the antigens presented are the inputs, and the responding effector immune cells are the output.

“Just as a neural network can be trained in machine learning, we believe the immune network can reflect associations between antigen patterns and the effective responses to pathogens,” first author Takuya Kato says.

The main difference between the adaptive immune system compared with computer machine learning is that only the number of T helper cells of each type can be varied, as opposed to the connection weights between nodes in each layer. The team used computer simulations to predict the distribution of T cell abundances after undergoing adaptive learning. These values were found to agree with experimental data based on the genetic sequencing of actual T helper cells.

“Our theoretical framework may completely change our understanding of adaptive immunity as a real learning system,” says co-author Tetsuya Kobayashi. “This research can shed light on other complex adaptive systems, as well as ways to optimize vaccines to evoke a stronger immune response.”

###

The work is published in Physical Review Research as “Understanding Adaptive Immune System as Reinforcement Learning.” (DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.013222).

About Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo

Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), the University of Tokyo is one of the largest university-attached research institutes in Japan.

More than 120 research laboratories, each headed by a faculty member, comprise IIS, with more than 1,000 members including approximately 300 staff and 700 students actively engaged in education and research. Our activities cover almost all the areas of engineering disciplines. Since its foundation in 1949, IIS has worked to bridge the huge gaps that exist between academic disciplines and realworld applications.

Media Contact
Tetsuya J. Kobayashi
[email protected]

Original Source

https://www.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/news/3503/

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.013222

Tags: Biomedical/Environmental/Chemical EngineeringBiotechnologyComputer ScienceIndustrial Engineering/ChemistryNanotechnology/MicromachinesResearch/DevelopmentRobotry/Artificial IntelligenceSoftware EngineeringTechnology/Engineering/Computer ScienceTheory/Design
Share25Tweet16Share4ShareSendShare
  • How to MRI your dragon

    How to MRI your dragon: Illinois researchers develop first bearded dragon brain atlas

    74 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • Immune molecules from a llama could provide protection against a vast array of SARS-like viruses including COVID-19, researchers say

    74 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • Researchers perform non-line-of-sight ghost imaging with human vision

    73 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18
  • Unique blend of comics and humor is key to success of public awareness posters in Singapore, finds Singapore-US researchers

    72 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18
  • Human urine-derived stem cells have robust regenerative potential

    72 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18
  • Researchers develop word-score model capable of estimating hidden hearing loss

    71 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
ADVERTISEMENT

About us

We bring you the latest science news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Latest NEWS

nTIDE May 2022 COVID Update: Uncertainty about inflation tempers good news for people with disabilities

COVID-19 fattens up our body’s cells to fuel its viral takeover

Famous Sterkfontein Caves deposit 1 million years older than previously thought

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 190 other subscribers

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Posting....