Unraveling human CD8 T cell immunity to malaria liver stages – IMMALIV

Malaria remains a major cause of death and morbidity worldwide and no efficacious vaccine is available. The liver stage (LS), an obligatory and asymptomatic phase of parasite’s life cycle, is an ideal vaccine target but our knowledge of human immunity to LS is scarce. Very few antigens (Ags) are known and their protective potential is unknown. Using an original in vitro system, we propose to determine i) whether human T cells are able to eliminate LS and to determine the effector mechanisms involved, ii) validate in human settings novel LS Ags identified as protective in rodent models iii) identify correlates of protection in humans. This project offers a unique opportunity of unravelling totally unknow aspects of human immunity to malaria LS, a field largely unexplored due to its technical challenging nature, that we will overcome through our complementary expertises. Implementation of this project is expected to provide crucial information for the design of future malaria vaccines