Agent-based modeling of immune response to study the effects of regulatory T cells in Type 1 Diabetes

Abstract

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have an important role in self-tolerance. Understanding the functions of Tregs is important for preventing or slowing the progress of Type 1 Diabetes. We use a two-dimensional (2D) agent-based model to simulate immune response in mice and test the effects of Tregs in tissue protection. We compared the immune response with and without Tregs, and also tested the effects of Tregs from different sources or with different functions. The results show that Tregs can inhibit the proliferation of effector T cells by inhibiting antigens presenting via dendritic cells (DCs). Although the number and function of Tregs affect the inhibition, a small number of Tregs compared to CD4+ T cells can effectively protect islets in pancreatic tissue. Finally, we added Tregs to the system in the middle phase of the immune response. The simulation results show that Tregs can inhibit the production of effector CD8+ T cells and maintain a good environment for β cell regeneration.