Cross-protection between attenuated Plasmodium berghei and P. yoelii sporozoites

An attenuated Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite (PfSPZ) vaccine is under development, in part, based on studies in mice with P. berghei. We used P. berghei and P. yoelii to study vaccine-induced protection against challenge with a species of parasite different from the immunizing parasite in BALB/c mice. One-hundred percent of mice were protected against homologous challenge. Seventy-nine percent immunized with attenuated P. berghei sporozoite (PbSPZ) (six experiments) were protected against challenge with P. yoelii sporozoite (PySPZ), and 63% immunized with attenuated PySPZ (three experiments) were protected against challenge with PbSPZ. Antibodies in sera of immunized mice only recognized homologous sporozoites and could not have mediated protection against heterologous challenge. Immunization with attenuated PySPZ or PbSPZ induced CD8+ T cell-dependent protection against heterologous challenge. Immunization with attenuated PySPZ induced CD8+ T cell-dependent protection against homologous challenge. However, homologous protection induced by attenuated PbSPZ was not dependent on CD8+ or CD4+ T cells, and depletion of both populations only reduced protection by 36%. Immunization of C57BL/10 mice with PbSPZ induced CD8+ T cell-dependent protection against P. berghei, but no protection against P. yoelii. The cross-protection data in BALB/c mice support testing a human vaccine based on attenuated PfSPZ for its efficacy against P. vivax.