Network regulation of the immune response: modulation of suppressor lymphocytes by alternative signals including...

In the preceding paper we demonstrated that comparison of alternative designs for the immune network can be used to examine the functional significance of specified interactions in normal immune responses. In this paper we examine mathematically the functional significance of three interactions affecting the production of suppressor lymphocytes involved in regulation of normal immune responses. The interactions examined in detail are 1) antigenic stimulation of the production of suppressor lymphocytes, 2) idiotypic stimulation of the production of suppressor lymphocytes, and 3) antigenic inhibition of the production of suppressor lymphocytes (i.e., contrasuppression). The results of our analysis suggest that an immune system with only antigenic stimulation of suppressor production is less effective than a system with both antigenic and idiotypic stimulation of suppressor production on the basis of all of the criteria examined in this study. In turn, the latter system is less effective than a system with only idiotypic stimulation of suppressor production. Furthermore, a system with both idiotypic stimulation and antigenic inhibition of suppressor production can be equal or superior to a system with only idiotypic stimulation of suppressor production on the basis of the same criteria. Similar conclusions hold for the comparison of systems in which regulation by the suppressor lymphocytes of interest is exerted upon production of effector molecules rather than upon production of effector lymphocytes, and also for the comparison of systems in which interactions affecting the production of suppressor factors are of interest.