Immunosignature+Entropy+Next+Steps+2-9-12

Immunosignature Entropy Next Steps

E-mail to Stephen Kathy and Phil There are several questions that I would be interested in knowing the answer to regarding the immunosignature entropy topic. If you agree, maybe we can start moving forward with some of these.

Were the initial results real or did they just happen by chance? We should probably repeat the experiment with more and different mice to verify that we would always see higher entropy in the older mice.

Would we see an entropy difference in naive mice that have not been immunized or is an immunization required to raise the immune response high enough to detect a difference in the samples? I think it might be possible to detect a difference in naive samples (if not with the 10K than with the 100K).

Would we see an entropy difference in young vs old humans just as we do in the mice? I would assume so.

Is there any way to slow down the increase in immunosignature entropy with age? I think that the increase in immunosignature entropy in age could be slowed down by slightly challenging the immune system over time. The reason I think this is because the immune system may be like many other systems in the body. If you don't stimulate muscles or the mind, then they have no reason to adapt to respond to future challenges. I think it's possible that the challenge for the immune system could be just about anything whether it is B2L or just AAT. I think the challenged mice would have a slower increase in entropy than non-challenged mice.

If challenging the immune system does slow down the increase in entropy, is there an optimal way of challenging the immune system? Although challenging may be a good thing, I think some challenge schemes may be more beneficial than others. If you challenge an immune system far beyond it's current ability to handle the challenge, then I think damage could result. On the other hand, if you don't challenge it at all, then the immune system has no reason to adapt to respond to challenges. I think it would be really interesting to determine the optimal way to challenge a certain immune system (or any system) based on it's current ability. Note that I would also predict that a challenge scheme that involved some level of variation would be more beneficial than a challenge scheme that involved the exact same antigen and/or amount of antigen with each immunization.

So do you agree with investigating some of these questions?

-Kurt


 * **Stephen Johnston ** || **Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 11:57 PM** ||
 * To: Kurt Whittemore , Kathryn Sykes , Phillip Stafford  ||
 * || Kurt: this concept is interesting and potentially has legs. I would look at some of the experiments that have already been done over time to see how much insignt you could get. But what about finishing the Gemini project you already have. saj


 * Stephen Albert Johnston **
 * Co-Director, Center for Innovations in Medicine **
 * Professor, Life Sciences **
 * Director, Biological Design Graduate Program **
 * P: 480-727-0792 **
 * F: 480-205-0782 **
 * E: Stephen.johnston@asu.edu **
 * PO Box 875901, Tempe AZ 85287-5901 **
 * Physical: 1001 S. McAllister Ave, Tempe AZ, 85287-5901 **
 * www.biodesign.asu.edu **
 * www.biologicaldesign.edu **
 * www.immunosignatures.com **


 * From: ** Kurt Whittemore [mailto:Kurt.Whittemore@asu.edu]

**Sent:** Thursday, February 09, 2012 4:22 PM

**To:** Stephen Johnston; Kathryn Sykes; Phillip Stafford

**Subject:** immunosignaturing entropy next steps [Quoted text hidden] ||  ||


 * **Kathryn Sykes ** || **Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 12:01 AM** ||
 * To: Stephen Johnston , Kurt Whittemore , Phillip Stafford  ||
 * || So I think the pot just called the kettle black ;-)


 * From: **<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> Stephen Johnston

<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">**Sent:** Thursday, February 09, 2012 4:57 PM

<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">**To:** Kurt Whittemore; Kathryn Sykes; Phillip Stafford

<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">**Subject:** RE: immunosignaturing entropy next steps [Quoted text hidden] ||  ||

Cc: Kathryn Sykes <Kathryn.Sykes@asu.edu>, Phillip Stafford <Phillip.Stafford@asu.edu> ||
 * **Kurt Whittemore <kurtwhittemore@gmail.com>** || **Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 12:06 AM** ||
 * To: Stephen Johnston <Stephen.Johnston@asu.edu>
 * || Yes I agree that focusing on my current unfinished (and unsuccessful, but slowly progressing) projects is a good idea. Perhaps every now and then I or a student that works with me (or even a completely different student that can focus on the project in the future) could do a little bit of work on the project. I'll focus on my current projects for now though.

-Kurt ||  ||