The Host-Pathogen Game: an evolutionary approach to biological competitions

TL;DR

This paper introduces the Host-Pathogen game, a model simulating biological competition between host cells and invading bacteria, revealing diverse dynamic states that resemble real biological systems and offering insights into host-pathogen interactions.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel evolutionary game model for host-pathogen interactions, emphasizing spatial dynamics, energy exchange, and temperature effects, which has not been extensively explored before.

Findings

Model exhibits multiple dynamic states similar to biological systems

Spatial proximity influences bacteria survival and host response

Temperature plays a crucial role in infection outcomes

Abstract

We introduce a model called Host-Pathogen game for studying biological competitions. Notably, we focus on the invasive dynamics of external agents, like bacteria, within a host organism. The former are mapped to a population of defectors that aim to spread in the extracellular medium of the host. In turn, the latter is composed of cells, mapped to a population of cooperators, that aim to kill pathogens. The cooperative behavior of cells is fundamental for the emergence of the living functions of the whole organism, since each one contributes to a specific set of tasks. So, broadly speaking, their contribution can be viewed as a form of energy. When bacteria are spatially close to a cell, the latter can use a fraction of its energy to remove them. On the other hand, when bacteria survive an attack, they absorb the received energy, becoming stronger and more resistant to further attacks. In addition, since bacteria play as defectors, their unique target is to increase their wealth, without supporting their own kind. As in many living organisms, the host temperature plays a relevant role in the host-pathogen equilibrium. For instance, in animals like human beings, a neural mechanism triggers the increasing of the body temperature in order to activate the immune system. Here, cooperators succeed once bacteria are completely removed while, in the opposite scenario, the host undergoes a deep invasive process, like a blood poisoning. Results of numerical simulations show that the dynamics of the proposed model allow to reach a variety of states. At a very high level of abstraction, some of these states seem to be similar to those that can be observed in some living systems. Therefore, to conclude, we deem that our model might be exploited for studying further biological phenomena.