CITE-Seq analysis of total PBMC pre- and post-PfSPZ vaccination in the IMRAS trial

Immunization with radiation-attenuated sporozoites (RAS) can confer sterilizing protection against malaria, although the mechanisms behind this protection are incompletely understood. We performed a systems biology analysis of samples from the Immunization by Mosquito with Radiation Attenuated Sporozoites IMRAS) trial, which comprised P. falciparum RAS-immunized (PfRAS), malaria-naive participants whose protection from malaria infection was subsequently assessed by controlled human malaria infection (CHMI). Blood samples collected after initial PfRAS immunization were analyzed to compare immune responses between protected and non-protected volunteers leveraging integrative analysis of whole blood RNA-seq, high parameter flow cytometry, and single cell CITE-seq of PBMCs. Overall design: We performed CITE-seq with a panel of 14 antibodies using PBMC samples collected on day 0, day 3 and day 14 after the priming dose of PfSPZ from an IMRAS subject who dropped out of the trial. We obtained single cell RNA seq gene expression and surface protein marker profile data from a total of 12,442 cells.