Immune cells make myriad physical interactions with antigens to elicit immune responses. Growing evidence reveal that these forces regulate immune responses against the antigens. T cells discriminate antigens by applying a force on a bond mediated by T cell receptors and antigenic peptide. On the other hand, B cells exert force to extract the antigen and get activated. By developing mathematical models and simulations, I want to understand the evolutionary underpinnings of force usage by B cells and T cells and investigate the resulted immune responses. In addition to force, I am interested in understanding the role of antigen organization – epitope density and interspacing – on the B cell response.
