Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40424562›Full record

ArticlePLoS pathogens2025

Long lived liver-resident memory T cells of biased specificities for abundant sporozoite antigens drive malaria protection by radiation-attenuated sporozoite vaccination.

Maria N de Menezes, Zhengyu Ge, Anton Cozijnsen, Stephanie Gras, Patrick Bertolino, Irina Caminschi, Mireille H Lahoud, Katsuyuki Yui, Geoffrey I McFadden, Lynette Beattie and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS pathogens, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Maria N de MenezesDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, The Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Zhengyu GeDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, The Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Anton CozijnsenSchool of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Stephanie GrasInfection and Immunity Program, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science (LIMS), La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
Patrick BertolinoCentenary Institute, The University of Sydney and AW Morrow Gastroenterology and Liver Centre, Newtown, New South Wales, Australia.
Irina CaminschiMonash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Mireille H LahoudMonash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Katsuyuki YuiShionogi Global Infectious Diseases Division, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Japan.
Geoffrey I McFaddenSchool of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Lynette BeattieDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, The Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
William R HeathDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, The Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Daniel Fernandez-RuizDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, The Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4040-9121

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Vaccination with radiation-attenuated sporozoites (RAS) can provide highly effective protection against malaria in both humans and mice. To extend understanding of malaria immunity and inform the development of future vaccines, we studied the protective response elicited by this vaccine in C57BL/6 mice. We reveal that successive doses of Plasmodium berghei RAS favour the generation of liver CD8+ tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM cells) over circulating memory cells and markedly enhance their longevity. Importantly, RAS immunisation strongly skews the composition of the liver CD8+ TRM compartment towards cells specific for abundant sporozoite antigens, such as thrombospondin-related anonymous protein (TRAP) and circumsporozoite protein (CSP), which become major mediators of protection. The increased prevalence of sporozoite specificities is associated with limited intrahepatic attenuated parasite development and inhibition of naïve T cell responses to all parasite antigens, whether formerly encountered or not, in previously vaccinated mice. This leads to the exclusive expansion of effector T cells formed upon initial immunisation, ultimately reducing the diversity of the liver TRM pool later established. However, stronger responses to less abundant epitopes can be achieved with higher initial doses of RAS. These findings provide novel insights into the mechanisms governing malaria immunity induced by attenuated sporozoite vaccination and highlight the susceptibility of this vaccine to limitations imposed by strain-specific immunity associated with the abundant, yet highly variable sporozoite antigens CSP and TRAP.

Indexed as

Antigens, ProtozoanCD8-Positive T-LymphocytesLiverMalariaMalaria VaccinesMemory T CellsPlasmodium bergheiSporozoitesAnimalsFemaleImmunologic MemoryMiceMice, Inbred C57BLVaccinationVaccines, AttenuatedAntigens, ProtozoanMalaria VaccinesVaccines, Attenuated

Identifiers

PMID40424562
PMCPMC12143544

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.