Berlin 2024 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 20: Poster IIIa
BP 20.32: Poster
Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 11:00–14:30, Poster B
Modelling host-pathogen interactions: combining population dynamics with behavioural analysis — •Soham Mukhopadhyay1, Jonathan Pollock2, Ben Fabry3, David Voehringer2, and Vasily Zaburdaev1 — 1Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin, Erlangen, Germany — 2Department of Infection Biology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen, Germany — 3Biophysics Group, Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen
Helminth infections affect a large proportion of the world’s population and cause significant morbidity. There are no vaccines against helminths, and the factors shaping how these parasites migrate through their hosts require further elaboration. To better understand the immune system response we develop a mathematical model describing the helminth load in different organs of the host as a function of time. We use the rodent helminth N.brasiliensis as a model to contrast migration dynamics in immunocompetent and susceptible mice during primary and secondary infection. We model the progression of infection as a system of coupled, time-delayed equations which allow us to link the initial infective dose to the number of eggs shed to the environment by adult worms and compare model predictions with experimental data. For a more microscopic insight into the behavior of larvae at different developmental stages, we carry out biophysical characterization of larval motility in in-vitro settings. Combining these results we aim to achieve a quantitative description of the infection progression in the host.
Keywords: Population dynamics; Time-delayed processes; Continuous time random walk