Tracking the total CD8 T cell response following whole Plasmodium vaccination

CD8 T cells are critical mediators of protection against Plasmodium liver-stage infection. Most studies of the CD8 T cell response to whole parasite Plasmodium vaccines address a single T cell epitope in BALB/c mice, and thus provide limited information. Here, we describe a surrogate activation marker approach that uses the coordinate downregulation of the CD8α chain and upregulation of the integrin CD11a to track the total CD8 T cell response to Plasmodium vaccination via flow cytometry. With this approach, quantitative (magnitude, kinetics) and qualitative (distribution, phenotype, and function) features of the total CD8 T cell response to vaccination with attenuated Plasmodium or other pathogens can be studied.