Parasite load stemming from immunization route determines the duration of liver-stage immunity.

Immunization with radiation-attenuated Plasmodium sporozoites (RAS) induces sterile and long-lasting protective immunity. Although intravenous (IV) route of RAS immunization is reported to induce superior immunity compared to intradermal (ID) injection, its role in the maintenance of sterile immunity is yet to be understood. We investigated whether the route of homologous sporozoite challenge of Plasmodium berghei (Pb) RAS-immunized mice would influence the longevity of protection. C57BL/6 mice immunized with Pb-RAS by IV were 100% protected upon primary IV/ID sporozoite challenge. In contrast, ID immunization resulted in 80% protection, regardless of primary challenge route. Interestingly, the route of primary challenge was found to bring difference in the maintenance of sterile protection. While IV Pb RAS-immunized mice remained protected at all challenges regardless of the route of primary challenge, ID Pb-RAS-immunized mice receiving ID primary challenge became parasitaemic upon secondary IV challenge. Significantly, primary IV challenge of Pb RAS ID-immunized mice resulted in 80% and 50% survival at secondary and tertiary challenges, respectively. According to phenotypically diverse liver CD8+ T cells, the percentages and the numbers of both CD8+ T effector memory and resident memory cells were significantly higher in IV than in ID Pb RAS-immunized mice. IFN-γ-producing CD8+ T cells specific to Pb TRAP130 and MIP-4-Kb-17 were also found significantly higher in IV mice than in ID mice. The enhanced T-cell generation and the longevity of protection appear to be dependent on the parasite load during challenge when infection is tolerated under suboptimal CD8+ T-cell response.

Infectious Sporozoites of Plasmodium berghei Effectively Activate Liver CD8α+ Dendritic Cells.

Immunization with radiation-attenuated sporozoites (RAS) shown to confer complete sterile protection against Plasmodia liver-stage (LS) infection that lasts about 6 to 9 months in mice. We have found that the intermittent infectious sporozoite challenge to immune mice following RAS vaccination extends the longevity of sterile protection by maintaining CD8+ T cell memory responses to LS infection. It is reported that CD8α+ dendritic cells (DCs) are involved in the induction of LS-specific CD8+ T cells following RAS or genetically attenuated parasite (GAP) vaccination. In this study, we demonstrate that CD8α+ DCs respond differently to infectious sporozoite or RAS inoculation. The higher accumulation and activation of CD8α+ DCs was seen in the liver in response to infectious sporozoite 72 h postinoculation and found to be associated with higher expression of chemokines (CCL-20 and CCL-21) and type I interferon response via toll-like receptor signaling in liver. Moreover, the infectious sporozoites were found to induce qualitative changes in terms of the increased MHCII expression as well as costimulatory molecules including CD40 on the CD8α+ DCs compared to RAS inoculation. We have also found that infectious sporozoite challenge increased CD40L-expressing CD4+ T cells, which could help CD8+ T cells in the liver through "licensing" of the antigen-presenting cells. Our results suggest that infectious sporozoite challenge to prior RAS immunized mice modulates the CD8α+ DCs, which might be shaping the fate of memory CD8+ T cells against Plasmodium LS infection.