Kumar, S.Miller, L.H.Quakyi, I.A.Keister, D.B.Houghten, R.A.Maloy, W.L.Good, M.F.2013-06-212017-10-162013-06-212017-10-161988Kumar, S., Miller, L. H., Quakyi, I. A., Keister, D. B., Houghten, R. A., Maloy, W. L., . . . Good, M. F. (1988). Cytotoxic T cells specific for the circumsporozoite protein of plasmodium falciparum. Nature, 334(6179), 258-260.http://197.255.68.203/handle/123456789/3794Malaria is initiated by the inoculation of a susceptible host with sporozoites from an infected mosquito. The sporozoites enter hepatocytes and develop for a period as exoerythrocyte or hepatic stage parasites1. Vaccination with irradiated sporozoites can provide protective immunity1 and a recent study2 shows that this can also be conferred by immunization with a recombinant salmonella expressing only the circumsporozoite protein that normally covers the sporozoites. Protection against infection is likely to be mediated by cytotoxic CD8+ cells, as depletion of CD8+ T cells in a sporozoite-immunized animal can completely abrogate immunity3,4. Here we demonstrate directly the existence of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) that recognize the circumsporozoite protein. B10.BR mice immunized with sporozoites or with recombinant vaccinia virus expressing the CS protein of Plasmodium falciparum contain CTL that specifically kill L cell fibroblasts transfected with the gene encoding the same CS protein. The peptide epitope from the CS protein that is recognized by CTL from this strain of mice is from a variant region of the protein.enArticle