부산대학교 도서관

Once challenged by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the human host immune system triggers a dynamic process against infection. We constructed a mathematical model to describe host innate and adaptive immune response to viral challenge. Based on the dynamic properties of viral load and immune response, we classified the resulting dynamics into four modes, reflecting increasing severity of COVID-19 disease. We found the numerical product of immune system's ability to clear the virus and to kill the infected cells, namely immune efficacy, to be predictive of disease severity. We also investigated vaccine-induced protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results suggested that immune efficacy based on memory T cells and neutralizing antibody titers could be used to predict population vaccine protection rates. Finally, we analyzed infection dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 variants within the construct of our mathematical model. Overall, our results provide a systematic framework for understanding the dynamics of host response upon challenge by SARS-CoV-2 infection, and this framework can be used to predict vaccine protection and perform clinical diagnosis. Author summary: Once challenged by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the host immune system initiates a dynamic process against infection. Countless experimental, clinical, and theoretical studies have been carried out to understand the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection, improve treatments or optimize vaccine strategies. Most of the time, people have been focusing on one arm of host immune system during SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccine protection, despite there are three. A systematic understanding towards the innate, cellular, and humoral immunologic responses remains incomplete. Here, we report a mathematical model that captures the virus-immunity dynamics in both primary infection and vaccine-rendered protection. Mathematical analysis reveals the overall host immune system functions as an integrative dynamic metric combating SARS-CoV-2 infection. The metric reveals the cooperative nature of the immune system, especially between cellular and humoral immune responses. Numerical simulation and data analysis show this metric serves as a strong correlate for disease severity and vaccine protection rates against the original and variant SARS-CoV-2 strains. Our results put forth a systematic framework for understanding the virus-immune interaction during SARS-CoV-2 infection, which could be further deployed for treatment formulation and vaccine optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]