{
  "abstract": "Chemo-attenuated sporozoite vaccines (SPZ-CVacs) are considered promising for malaria prevention, but safety concerns persist regarding antimalarial drugs targeting either liver- or blood-stage parasites. In this study, we found that nitroquine (CI-679), used to eliminate malaria blood-stage parasites, effectively rendered sporozoites attenuated by arresting late liver-stage development. A single vaccination with CI-679-attenuated Plasmodium berghei (P. berghei) sporozoites conferred robust protection against sporozoite challenge in BALB/c mice. Using mouse models with distinct genetic backgrounds, we demonstrated that the robust protection conferred by the CI-679-attenuated vaccine was primarily associated with the frequency of parasite-specific CD8+ tissue-resident memory (Trm) cells mediated by IL-15. Notably, the supplement of IL-15/IL-15Ra sushi complex remarkably increased Trm frequency and improved the protective efficacy of CI-679-attenuated vaccine. Our findings characterize a novel SPZ-CVac and provide mechanistic evidence supporting IL-15 as an adjuvant to enhance the efficacy of pre-erythrocytic stage vaccines.\n\nIMPORTANCE: Malaria remains a devastating global disease. Chemo-attenuated sporozoite vaccines show promise, yet safety concerns persist as current drugs target only liver- or blood-stage parasites. Here, we found nitroquine (CI-679) has a potentially favorable safety profile because of its dual liver- and blood-stage activity, and a single vaccination with CI-679-attenuated P. berghei sporozoites conferred robust protection against sporozoite challenge in BALB/c mice. Mechanistically, protection was associated with IL-15-mediated parasite-specific CD8+ tissue-resident memory (Trm) cells. Notably, the supplement of IL-15/IL-15Ra sushi complex remarkably increased Trm frequency and enhanced protective efficacy. Therefore, we characterize a novel chemo-attenuated sporozoite vaccine and provide mechanistic evidence supporting IL-15 as an adjuvant for pre-erythrocytic stage vaccines.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Pathogenic Biology, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, China",
    "Department of Clinical Laboratory, People’s Hospital of Deyang City, Deyang, China",
    "Key Laboratory of Extreme Environmental Medicine, Ministry of Education of China, Chongqing, China"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Nie Tan",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4410-4384"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Chengyu Zhu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Teyang Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Shubin Su"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Shiming Jiao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yuanli Gao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yan Ding"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Taiping Liu",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2261-1155"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Wenyue Xu",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3681-5052"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2xb0sqdj3z89z.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1128/mbio.01131-26",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13712793/",
  "id": "2xb0sqdj3z89z",
  "issns": [
    "2150-7511"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.01131-26",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Research Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2739|Malaria Research and Control"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214193138",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13712793",
  "pmid": "42782159",
  "published": "2026-09-24",
  "publisher": "American Society for Microbiology (ASM)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2xb0sqdj3z89z.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:23:18Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13712793",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.01131-26"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2739|Malaria Research and Control",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The high protection of a novel chemo-attenuated sporozoite vaccine requires IL-15-mediated liver CD8+ tissue-resident memory T-cell responses",
  "title_text": "The high protection of a novel chemo-attenuated sporozoite vaccine requires IL-15-mediated liver CD8+ tissue-resident memory T-cell responses",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-31T12:23:18Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2xb0sqdj3z89z",
  "venue": "mBio",
  "versions": []
}