Mathematical modeling of CD8 T cell search for malaria infection in the liver

Malaria, a disease caused by parasites of the Plasmodium genus, begins when Plasmodium-infected mosquitoes inject malaria sporozoites while searching for blood. Sporozoites migrate from the skin via blood to the liver, infect hepatocytes, and form liver stages. In mice, sufficient numbers of vaccine-induced activated or memory CD8 T cells are capable of locating and eliminating all liver stages in 48 hours, thus preventing the blood-stage disease. However, rules of how CD8 T cells are able to locate all liver stages in a limited timeframe remains poorly understood.
I will present results from our work in the past years attempting to understand how CD8 T cells locate the liver stages. I will show how we combined the use of experimental data with math models to narrow down mechanisms of T cell search and how additional experimental measurements challenge earlier conclusions. If time permits, I will also present some philosophical points on how one could best use mathematical modeling to gain insights into biological phenomena.