AUTHOR=Zhu Chengyu , Jiao Shiming , Xu Wenyue 

TITLE=CD8+ Trms against malaria liver-stage: prospects and challenges

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1344941

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2024.1344941

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Attenuated sporozoites provide a valuable model for exploring protective immunity against the malarial liver stage, guiding the design of highly efficient vaccines to prevent malaria infection. Liver tissue-resident CD8<sup>+</sup> T cells (CD8<sup>+</sup> Trm cells) are considered the host front-line defense against malaria and are crucial to developing prime-trap/target strategies for pre-erythrocytic stage vaccine immunization. However, the spatiotemporal regulatory mechanism of the generation of liver CD8<sup>+</sup> Trm cells and their responses to sporozoite challenge, as well as the protective antigens they recognize remain largely unknown. Here, we discuss the knowledge gap regarding liver CD8<sup>+</sup> Trm cell formation and the potential strategies to identify predominant protective antigens expressed in the exoerythrocytic stage, which is essential for high-efficacy malaria subunit pre-erythrocytic vaccine designation.</p>