Trait-space patterning and the role of feedback in antigen-immunity coevolution

Abstract: Coevolutionary arms races form between interacting populations that constitute each other's environment and respond to mutual changes. This inherently far-from-equilibrium process finds striking manifestations in the adaptive immune system, where highly variable antigens and a finite repertoire of immune receptors coevolve on comparable timescales. This unique challenge to the immune system motivates general questions: How do ecological and evolutionary processes interplay to shape diversity? What determine the endurance and fate of coevolution? Here, we take the perspective of responsive environments and develop a phenotypic model of coevolution between receptors and antigens that both exhibit cross-reactivity (one-to-many responses). The theory predicts that the extent of asymmetry in cross-reactivity is a key determinant of repertoire composition: small asymmetry supports persistent large diversity, whereas strong asymmetry yields long-lived transients of quasispecies in both populations. The latter represents a new type of Turing mechanism. More surprisingly, patterning in the trait space feeds back on population dynamics: spatial resonance between the Turing modes breaks the dynamic balance, leading to antigen extinction or unrestrained growth. Model predictions can be tested via combined genomic and phenotypic measurements. Our work identifies cross-reactivity as an important regulator of diversity and coevolutionary outcome, and reveals the remarkable effect of ecological feedback in pattern-forming systems, which drives evolution toward non-steady states different than the Red Queen persistent cycles.