On Immunological Memory as a Function of a Recursive Proliferation Process

Abstract

We present a model that explains immunological memory as a consequence of the recursive proliferation of reactive and suppressive cells, where the relative proportion of these cells will set a probability for the emergence of a response (inflammation). We show that the underlying principle of the proposed model is a special case of Polya's urn process. This insight reveals and explains the emergent functionality of the model. Additionally, experiments and simulations are performed to validate the obtained insight of the model.