Liver stage P. falciparum antigens highly targeted by CD4+ T cells in malaria-exposed Ugandan children.

ABSTRACT: T cell responses against liver stage Plasmodium help protect against reinfection, but the antigens and epitopes targeted by these T cells are largely unknown. This knowledge gap has impeded mechanistic studies to identify the effector functions most critical for protection. We performed a bioinformatic analysis of gene expression datasets to identify plasmodial genes that are highly and selectively expressed during liver stage infection and predict epitopes within them likely to bind MHC-II molecules prevalent in Uganda. We then tested their recognition by malaria-exposed Ugandan children. In over two-thirds of the children, we detected a peripheral blood CD4+ T cell response to one or more antigens. The most highly targeted antigen, LISP1, contained several epitopes, including one that wa

SUBMITTER: Acevedo GR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11906071 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature