Volume 1, Issue 3
Modeling Effects of ${\rm T}$ Cell Exhaustion on the Dynamics of Chronic Viral Infection

Teng Yu & Xiulan Lai

CSIAM Trans. Life Sci., 1 (2025), pp. 409-437.

Published online: 2025-10

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  • Abstract

During chronic viral infection, sustained antigen stimulation leads to exhaustion of virus-specific ${\rm CD}8^+$ ${\rm T}$ cells, characterized by elevated expression of inhibitory receptors and progressive functional impairment, including loss of cytokine production, reduced cytotoxicity, and diminished proliferative capacity. In this paper, to investigate how ${\rm T}$ cell exhaustion influences viral persistence, we developed a within-host mathematical model integrating viral infection dynamics with adaptive immune responses. The model demonstrates three non-trivial equilibria: infection-free equilibrium ($S_1$), uncontrolled-infection state ($S_2$), and immune-controlled equilibrium ($S_3$). Through dynamical systems analysis, we established the local stability of all states ($S_1$-$S_3$) and prove global stability for both $S_1$ (complete viral clearance) and $S_2$ (chronic infection). Notably, the system exhibits Hopf bifurcations at $S_2$ and $S_3$, with distinct critical thresholds governing oscillatory dynamics. Numerical simulations reveal that successful immune-mediated control of viral load and infected cell levels requires maintenance of low ${\rm CD}8^+$ ${\rm T}$ cell exhaustion rates.

  • AMS Subject Headings

34K20, 92B05, Secondary: 34K25, 92D25

  • Copyright

COPYRIGHT: © Global Science Press

  • Email address

xiulanlai@ruc.edu.cn (Xiulan Lai)

  • BibTex
  • RIS
  • TXT
@Article{CSIAM-LS-1-409, author = {Yu , Teng and Lai , Xiulan}, title = {Modeling Effects of ${\rm T}$ Cell Exhaustion on the Dynamics of Chronic Viral Infection}, journal = {CSIAM Transactions on Life Sciences}, year = {2025}, volume = {1}, number = {3}, pages = {409--437}, abstract = {

During chronic viral infection, sustained antigen stimulation leads to exhaustion of virus-specific ${\rm CD}8^+$ ${\rm T}$ cells, characterized by elevated expression of inhibitory receptors and progressive functional impairment, including loss of cytokine production, reduced cytotoxicity, and diminished proliferative capacity. In this paper, to investigate how ${\rm T}$ cell exhaustion influences viral persistence, we developed a within-host mathematical model integrating viral infection dynamics with adaptive immune responses. The model demonstrates three non-trivial equilibria: infection-free equilibrium ($S_1$), uncontrolled-infection state ($S_2$), and immune-controlled equilibrium ($S_3$). Through dynamical systems analysis, we established the local stability of all states ($S_1$-$S_3$) and prove global stability for both $S_1$ (complete viral clearance) and $S_2$ (chronic infection). Notably, the system exhibits Hopf bifurcations at $S_2$ and $S_3$, with distinct critical thresholds governing oscillatory dynamics. Numerical simulations reveal that successful immune-mediated control of viral load and infected cell levels requires maintenance of low ${\rm CD}8^+$ ${\rm T}$ cell exhaustion rates.

}, issn = {3006-2721}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.4208/csiam-ls.SO-2025-0010}, url = {http://global-sci.org/intro/article_detail/csiam-ls/24509.html} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Modeling Effects of ${\rm T}$ Cell Exhaustion on the Dynamics of Chronic Viral Infection AU - Yu , Teng AU - Lai , Xiulan JO - CSIAM Transactions on Life Sciences VL - 3 SP - 409 EP - 437 PY - 2025 DA - 2025/10 SN - 1 DO - http://doi.org/10.4208/csiam-ls.SO-2025-0010 UR - https://global-sci.org/intro/article_detail/csiam-ls/24509.html KW - Viral infection dynamics, ${\rm T}$ cell exhaustion, stability analysis, Hopf bifurcation. AB -

During chronic viral infection, sustained antigen stimulation leads to exhaustion of virus-specific ${\rm CD}8^+$ ${\rm T}$ cells, characterized by elevated expression of inhibitory receptors and progressive functional impairment, including loss of cytokine production, reduced cytotoxicity, and diminished proliferative capacity. In this paper, to investigate how ${\rm T}$ cell exhaustion influences viral persistence, we developed a within-host mathematical model integrating viral infection dynamics with adaptive immune responses. The model demonstrates three non-trivial equilibria: infection-free equilibrium ($S_1$), uncontrolled-infection state ($S_2$), and immune-controlled equilibrium ($S_3$). Through dynamical systems analysis, we established the local stability of all states ($S_1$-$S_3$) and prove global stability for both $S_1$ (complete viral clearance) and $S_2$ (chronic infection). Notably, the system exhibits Hopf bifurcations at $S_2$ and $S_3$, with distinct critical thresholds governing oscillatory dynamics. Numerical simulations reveal that successful immune-mediated control of viral load and infected cell levels requires maintenance of low ${\rm CD}8^+$ ${\rm T}$ cell exhaustion rates.

Yu , Teng and Lai , Xiulan. (2025). Modeling Effects of ${\rm T}$ Cell Exhaustion on the Dynamics of Chronic Viral Infection. CSIAM Transactions on Life Sciences. 1 (3). 409-437. doi:10.4208/csiam-ls.SO-2025-0010
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