Transcriptional correlates of malaria in RTS,S/AS01-vaccinated African children: a matched case–control study

  1. Gemma Moncunill  Is a corresponding author
  2. Jason Carnes
  3. William Chad Young
  4. Lindsay Carpp
  5. Stephen De Rosa
  6. Joseph J Campo
  7. Augusto Nhabomba
  8. Maxmillian Mpina
  9. Chenjerai Jairoce
  10. Greg Finak
  11. Paige Haas
  12. Carl Muriel
  13. Phu Van
  14. Héctor Sanz
  15. Sheetij Dutta
  16. Benjamin Mordmüller
  17. Selidji T Agnandji
  18. Núria Díez-Padrisa
  19. Nana Aba Williams
  20. John J Aponte
  21. Clarissa Valim
  22. Daniel E Neafsey
  23. Claudia Daubenberger
  24. M Juliana McElrath
  25. Carlota Dobaño
  26. Ken Stuart
  27. Raphael Gottardo  Is a corresponding author
  1. ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
  2. CIBER de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Spain
  3. Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, United States
  4. Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, United States
  5. Antigen Discovery Inc, United States
  6. Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Rua 12, Cambeve, Vila de Manhiça, Mozambique
  7. Ifakara Health Institute. Bagamoyo Research and Training Centre, United Republic of Tanzania
  8. Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), United States
  9. Institute of Tropical Medicine and German Center for Infection Research, Germany
  10. Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL), BP 242, Gabon
  11. Department of Global Health, Boston University School of Public Health, United States
  12. Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, United States
  13. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, United States
  14. Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Switzerland
  15. University of Basel, Switzerland
  16. Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Medicine, University of Washington, United States
  17. Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, United States
  18. Department of Global Health, University of Washington, United States
  19. University of Lausanne and Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Switzerland
6 figures, 3 tables and 5 additional files

Figures

Schematic showing vaccination and sampling schedule.

Participants received RTS,S/AS01 (or comparator) at months 0, 1, and 2; peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected for fresh stimulations and RNA-sequencing and for cryopreservation at months 0 and 3 (1-month postfinal primary vaccination dose). Stim, stimulation.

Transcriptional responses and antigen-specific transcriptional responses at 1-month postfinal dose associated with RTS,S/AS01 vaccination.

(A) Comparison 1: month 3 (M3) peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), RTS,S/AS01 vs. comparator; (B) Comparison 2: M3 PBMC vs. month 0 (M0) PBMC, RTS,S/AS01 recipients only. Cell color intensity represents the significance of the difference in the relevant comparison, expressed as signed log10 false discovery rate (FDR); blood transcriptional modules (BTMs) with significantly different expression (FDR ≤0.2) between the two compared groups are outlined in black. |FDR| < 0.2 (*), <0.05 (**), <0.01 (***). Red, higher expression in RTS,S/AS01 recipients vs. comparator recipients at M3 (Comparison 1) or higher expression in RTS,S/AS01 recipients at M3 vs. M0 (Comparison 2); blue, lower expression in RTS,S/AS01 recipients vs. comparator recipients at M3 (Comparison 1) or lower expression in RTS,S/AS01 recipients at M3 vs. M0 (Comparison 2). High-level BTM annotation groups are shown in the left-most color bar. Numbers of participants in each analysis are: (A) Vehicle: 348 (131 comparator, 217 RTS,S/AS01), CSP: 355 (135 comparator, 220 RTS,S/AS01), HBS: 353 (132 comparator, 221 RTS,S/AS01), and AMA1: 351 (132 comparator, 219 RTS,S/AS01). (B) Vehicle: 221, CSP: 224 (221 vehicle, 219 CSP), HBS: 225 (221 vehicle, 211 HBS), AMA1: 223 (221 vehicle, 195 AMA1). Numbers include participants not part of the case–control cohort, and thus exceed the numbers in Table 1. Each ‘vehicle’ column displays the vaccine effect in vehicle; each ‘stimulation’ column displays the vaccine effect for that stimulation compared to vehicle, that is adjusted for vehicle. Detailed equations are given in Methods.

Figure 2—source data 1

List of blood transcriptional modules (BTMs), p values, and false discovery rates (FDRs) for Comparison 1 (RTS,S/AS01 vs. comparator recipients at month 3).

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-fig2-data1-v1.csv
Figure 2—source data 2

List of blood transcriptional modules (BTMs), p values, and false discovery rates (FDRs) for Comparison 2 (RTS,S/AS01 recipients at months 3 vs. 0).

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-fig2-data2-v1.csv
Figure 3 with 1 supplement
Associations of month 3 levels of RTS,S/AS01 signature blood transcriptional modules (BTMs) with malaria case status in RTS,S/AS01 recipients.

Heatmap showing downselected signature BTMs (Comparison 1) with significantly different expression (false discovery rate [FDR] ≤0.2) in month 3 peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from RTS,S/AS01 malaria cases vs. nonmalaria controls, in at least one stimulation condition. Cell color intensity represents the significance of the difference in the relevant comparison, expressed as signed log10 FDR; BTMs with significantly different expression in the comparison are outlined in black. |FDR| < 0.2 (*), <0.05 (**), <0.01 (***). Red, higher expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls; blue, lower expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls. High-level BTM annotation groups are shown in the left-most color bar. Numbers of participants in each analysis are: vehicle: 122, CSP: 123 (122 vehicle, 122 CSP), HBS: 123 (122 vehicle, 115 HBS), AMA1: 123 (122 vehicle, 97 AMA1). The ‘vehicle’ column displays the vaccine effect in vehicle; each ‘stimulation’ column displays the vaccine effect for that stimulation compared to vehicle, that is adjusted for vehicle. Detailed equations are given in Methods.

Figure 3—source data 1

List of blood transcriptional modules (BTMs), p values, and false discovery rates (FDRs) for the comparison of RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls at month 3, within each stimulation condition.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-fig3-data1-v1.csv
Figure 3—figure supplement 1
Associations of month 3 levels of RTS,S/AS01 signature blood transcriptional modules (BTMs) with malaria case status in comparator recipients.

Heatmap showing which of the 68 downselected RTS,S/AS01 signature BTMs (Comparison 1) showed significantly different expression (false discovery rate [FDR] ≤ 0.2) in month 3 peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) between comparator cases vs. nonmalaria controls in vehicle-stimulated PBMC from comparator recipients. |FDR| < 0.2 (*), <0.05 (**), and <0.01 (***). Analyses were also done with antigen-stimulated PBMC but are not shown here as none of the results were significant (only vehicle had any significant BTMs). Cell color intensity represents the strength of the difference in the relevant comparison, expressed as signed log10 FDR. Red, higher expression in comparator cases vs. controls; blue, lower expression in comparator cases vs. controls. High-level BTM annotation groups are shown in the left-most color bar.

Figure 3—figure supplement 1—source data 1

List of blood transcriptional modules (BTMs), p values, and false discovery rates (FDRs) for the comparison of comparator cases vs. controls at month 3, within each stimulation condition.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-fig3-figsupp1-data1-v1.csv
RTS,S/AS01 vaccination elicits circumsporozoite protein (CSP)-specific polyfunctional T-cell responses that do not correlate with clinical malaria risk.

Boxplots show (A) polyfunctionality score and (B) magnitude (% CD4+ T cells expressing IL2 or TNF-α or CD154) of CSP-specific CD4+ T-cell responses in RTS,S/AS01 recipients as assessed by intracellular cytokine staining of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) collected at month 0 (M0) or at month 3 (M3). Each dot represents a single participant. Data plotted include all available months 0 and 3 samples, that is paired months 0–3 samples were not required for plotting. (C) Polyfunctionality score and (D) magnitude of CSP-specific CD4+ T-cell responses in RTS,S/AS01 vaccine recipients at month 3, stratified by case–control status. In panels A and B, p values were obtained using a mixed-effects model with participant as a random effect. In panels C and D, p values were obtained using a mixed-effects model with match_id as a random effect. Number of participants in each panel is: (A) 213 (73 M0 and 182 M3), (B) 194 (61 M0, 175 M3), (C) 37 cases and 145 controls, and (D) 36 cases and 139 controls.

Figure 5 with 1 supplement
Correlations of month 3 transcriptional and adaptive responses in RTS,S/AS01 vaccine recipients.

Heatmap showing correlations between month 3 levels of RTS,S/AS01 signature blood transcriptional modules (BTMs) in vehicle-treated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and month 3 antibody responses. Cell color intensity represents the strength of the correlation; BTM/response pairs with significant correlations (false discovery rate [FDR] ≤0.2) are outlined in black. Cell color represents correlation direction: red, positive correlation; blue, negative correlation. High-level BTM annotation groups are shown in the left-most color bar. Number of participants: 30–42.

Figure 5—source data 1

List of blood transcriptional modules (BTMs) whose month 3 levels in vehicle-treated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) correlated significantly with at least one month 3 adaptive response variable in RTS,S/AS01 vaccinees, along with variable details, p value, and false discovery rate (FDR) results.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-fig5-data1-v1.csv
Figure 5—figure supplement 1
Correlations of transcriptional and adaptive responses in comparator vaccine recipients.

Heatmap showing significant correlations between month 3 levels of RTS,S/AS01 signature blood transcriptional modules (BTMs) in vehicle-treated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and month 3 antibody responses in comparator recipients. Cell color intensity represents the strength of the correlation; BTM/response pairs with significant correlations (false discovery rate [FDR] ≤0.2) are outlined in black. Cell color represents correlation direction: red, positive correlation; blue, negative correlation. High-level BTM annotation groups are shown in the left-most color bar. No correlations with month 3 cellular responses were seen.

Figure 5—figure supplement 1—source data 1

List of blood transcriptional modules (BTMs) whose month 3 levels in vehicle-treated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) correlated significantly with at least one month 3 adaptive response variable in comparator recipients, along with variable details, p value, and false discovery rate (FDR) results.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-fig5-figsupp1-data1-v1.csv
Figure 6 with 10 supplements
Associations of (A) month 3 or (B) month 0 levels of downselected blood transcriptional modules (BTMs) with malaria case status RTS,S/AS01 vaccine recipients across studies sharing a common months 0, 1, and 2 RTS,S/AS01 arm.

(A) Heatmap showing the difference in month 3 peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) BTM expression between RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls, in each of three controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) studies, of the seven BTMs whose month 3 levels in vehicle-stimulated PBMC associated with malaria case status in MAL067 (Figure 3). ‘Month 3’ = 21-day postfinal dose in MAL068 and MAL071, and 14-day postfinal dose in WRAIR 1032. BTMs with significantly different expression (false discovery rate [FDR] ≤0.2, with adjustment done across the five BTMs) are outlined in black. |FDR| < 0.2 (*), <0.05 (**), <0.01 (***). (B) Heatmap showing the 45 BTMs whose month 0 levels showed significantly different expression in MAL067 RTS,S/AS01 malaria cases vs. nonmalaria controls. These 45 BTMs were also examined as potential correlates of challenge outcome in each of the 3 CHMI studies. Significantly different expression is defined as FDR ≤0.2, with adjustment across the 45 BTMs. All data shown are from participants who received the same vaccine regimen: a dose of RTS,S/AS01 at months 0, 1, and 2. Cell color intensity represents the significance of the difference in the case vs. control comparison, expressed as signed log10 FDR; BTMs with significantly different expression (FDR ≤0.2) between the two compared groups are outlined in black. |FDR| < 0.2 (*), <0.05 (**), <0.01 (***). Red, higher expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls; blue, lower expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls. High-level BTM annotation groups are shown in the left-most color bar. Numbers of participants in each analysis are: (A) MAL067, 122; WRAIR 1032, 39; MAL068 RRR, 21; MAL071 RRR, 16. (B) MAL067, 37; WRAIR 1032, 39; MAL068 RRR, 21; MAL071 RRR, 16. Detailed equations are given in Methods.

Figure 6—source data 1

List of the seven blood transcriptional modules (BTMs) whose month 3 levels had significantly different expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls in MAL067, along with p values and false discovery rate (FDR) results when testing these seven BTMs for significantly different expression in cases vs. controls in the WRAIR 1032, MAL068 RRR, and MAL071 RRR studies.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-fig6-data1-v1.csv
Figure 6—source data 2

List of the 45 blood transcriptional modules (BTMs) whose month 0 levels had significantly different expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls in MAL067, along with p values and false discovery rate (FDR) results when testing these 45 BTMs for significantly different expression in cases vs. controls in the WRAIR 1032, MAL068 RRR, and MAL071 RRR studies.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-fig6-data2-v1.csv
Figure 6—figure supplement 1
Association of month 0 level of each gene in the ‘cell cycle and transcription (M4.0)’ module with malaria case status across studies sharing a common months 0, 1, and 2 RTS,S/AS01 arm.

Cell color intensity represents the strength of the difference in the case vs. control comparison, expressed as signed log10 p value; genes with significantly different expression (false discovery rate ≤0.2) between the two compared groups are outlined in black. Red, higher expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls; blue, lower expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls. The red-outlined portion of the heatmap in the lower right corresponds to an expanded view of the red-outlined portion of the heatmap on the left, for increased legibility of gene names.

Figure 6—figure supplement 2
Association of month 0 level of each gene in the ‘Resting dendritic cell surface signature (S10)’ module with malaria case status across studies sharing a common months 0, 1, and 2 RTS,S/AS01 arm.

Cell color intensity represents the strength of the difference in the case vs. control comparison, expressed as signed log10 p value; genes with significantly different expression (false discovery rate ≤0.2) between the two compared groups are outlined in black. Red, higher expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls; blue, lower expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls.

Figure 6—figure supplement 3
Association of month 0 level of each gene in the ‘DC surface signature (S5)’ module with malaria case status across studies sharing a common months 0, 1, and 2 RTS,S/AS01 arm.

Cell color intensity represents the strength of the difference in the case vs. control comparison, expressed as signed log10 p value; genes with significantly different expression (false discovery rate ≤0.2) between the two compared groups are outlined in black. Red, higher expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls; blue, lower expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls.

Figure 6—figure supplement 4
Association of month 0 level of each gene in the ‘Enriched in dendritic cells (M168)’ module with malaria case status across studies sharing a common months 0, 1, and 2 RTS,S/AS01 arm.

Cell color intensity represents the strength of the difference in the case vs. control comparison, expressed as signed log10 p value; genes with significantly different expression (false discovery rate ≤0.2) between the two compared groups are outlined in black. Red, higher expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls; blue, lower expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls.

Figure 6—figure supplement 5
Association of month 0 level of each gene in the ‘Myeloid cell enriched receptors and transporters (M4.3)’ module with malaria case status across studies sharing a common months 0, 1, and 2 RTS,S/AS01 arm.

Cell color intensity represents the strength of the difference in the case vs. control comparison, expressed as signed log10 p value; genes with significantly different expression (false discovery rate ≤0.2) between the two compared groups are outlined in black. Red, higher expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls; blue, lower expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls.

Figure 6—figure supplement 6
Association of month 0 level of each gene in the ‘Enriched in monocytes (II) (M11.0)’ module with malaria case status across studies sharing a common months 0, 1, and 2 RTS,S/AS01 arm.

Cell color intensity represents the strength of the difference in the case vs. control comparison, expressed as signed log10 p value; genes with significantly different expression (false discovery rate ≤0.2) between the two compared groups are outlined in black. Red, higher expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls; blue, lower expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls.

Figure 6—figure supplement 7
Association of month 0 level of each gene in the ‘Enriched in monocytes (I) (M4.15)’ module with malaria case status across studies sharing a common months 0, 1, and 2 RTS,S/AS01 arm.

Cell color intensity represents the strength of the difference in the case vs. control comparison, expressed as signed log10 p value; genes with significantly different expression (false discovery rate ≤0.2) between the two compared groups are outlined in black. Red, higher expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls; blue, lower expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls.

Figure 6—figure supplement 8
Association of month 0 level of each gene in the ‘Monocyte surface signature (S4)’ module with malaria case status across studies sharing a common months 0, 1, and 2 RTS,S/AS01 arm.

Cell color intensity represents the strength of the difference in the case vs. control comparison, expressed as signed log10 p value; genes with significantly different expression (false discovery rate ≤0.2) between the two compared groups are outlined in black. Red, higher expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls; blue, lower expression in RTS,S/AS01 cases vs. controls.

Figure 6—figure supplement 9
Correlations of month 0 blood transcriptional module (BTM) expression in vehicle-treated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with month 3 T-cell responses in RTS,S/AS01 vaccine recipients.

Heatmap showing significant correlations between month 0 levels of RTS,S/AS01 signature BTMs and month 3 cellular responses (no significant correlations were seen with any month 3 antibody responses). Cell color intensity represents the strength of the correlation; BTM/response pairs with significant correlations (false discovery rate [FDR] ≤0.2) are outlined in black. Cell color represents correlation direction: red, positive correlation; blue, negative correlation. High-level BTM annotation groups are shown in the left-most color bar. No significant correlations were seen with month 3 antibody responses. PFS, polyfunctionality score.

Figure 6—figure supplement 9—source data 1

List of blood transcriptional modules (BTMs) whose month 0 levels correlated significantly with at least one month 3 adaptive response variable, along with stimulation, variable details, p value, and false discovery rate (FDR) results.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-fig6-figsupp9-data1-v1.csv
Figure 6—figure supplement 10
No significant differences in monocyte frequencies in cases vs. controls in RTS,S/AS01 vaccinees at either month 0 or 3.

(A) Monocyte frequency, (B) inflammatory monocyte frequency, and (C) inflammatory monocyte/lymphocyte ratio, stratified by case/control status, in RTS,S/AS01 recipients. Flow cytometry data were analyzed using the gating strategy defined in Moncunill et al., 2017a. ‘Inflammatory monocytes’ refers to ‘HLA-DR+ CD14+ CD16++’ cells. The p values at the bottom of each panel are from testing for a significant difference in controls vs. cases within each panel, and were modeled using a mixed-effects model (using lmer) with match ID as a random effect.

Tables

Key resources table
Reagent type (species) or resourceDesignationSource or referenceIdentifiersAdditional information
Antibodyanti-CD4, clone SK3 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 563,5501.5 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-CD19, clone SJ25C1 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 564,3031 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-CD25, clone M-A251 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 562,4425 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-HLA-DR, clone B169414 (mouse monoclonal)BioLegendCat# 307,6370.625 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-CD56, clone HCD56 (mouse monoclonal)BioLegendCat# 318,3340.625 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-CD45RA, clone HI100 (mouse monoclonal)BioLegendCat# 304,1350.625 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-CD14, clone MφP9 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 563,3730.2 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-CCR7, clone G043H7 (mouse monoclonal)BioLegendCat# 353,2294 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-CD57, clone NK-1 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 555,6195 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-CD8, clone SK1 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 341,0512 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-Vδ2 TCR, clone B6 (mouse monoclonal)BioLegendCat# 331,4080.156 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-CD3, clone UCHT1 (mouse monoclonal)Beckman CoulterCat# IM2705U1 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-CD38, clone HIT2 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 555,46110 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-γ/δ TCR, clone 11F2 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 655,4341.25 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-CD127, clone A019D5 (mouse monoclonal)BioLegendCat# 351,3150.2 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-NKG2C, clone 134,591 (mouse monoclonal)R&D SystemsCat# FAB138N1.25 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-CD16, clone 3G8 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 557,7580.312 µl/50 µl staining volume; doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22580
Antibodyanti-CD14, clone M5E2 (mouse monoclonal)BioLegendCat# 301,842Fluorochrome: BV510 (detected in the same channel as AViD)
Antibodyanti-CD56, clone NCAM16.2 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 564,447Fluorochrome: BUV737
Antibodyanti-CD3, clone UCHT1 (mouse monoclonal)BioLegendCat# 300,436Fluorochrome: BV570
Antibodyanti-CD8, clone RPA-T8 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 563,821Fluorochrome: BV650
Antibodyanti-CD45RA, clone HI100 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 560,674Fluorochrome: APC-H7
Antibodyanti-CXCR5, clone J252D4 (mouse monoclonal)BioLegendCat# 356,928Fluorochrome: PE-Dazzle594
Antibodyanti-PD-1, clone eBioJ105 (mouse monoclonal)eBioscienceCat# 25-2799-42Fluorochrome: PE-Cy7
Antibodyanti-IFN-γ, clone B27 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 560,371Fluorochrome: V450
Antibodyanti-IL-2, clone MQ1-17H12 (rat monoclonal)BDCat# 559,334Fluorochrome: PE
Antibodyanti-IL-4, clone MP4-25D2 (rat monoclonal)BioLegendCat# 500,822Fluorochrome: PerCP-Cy5.5
Antibodyanti-IL-13, clone JES10-5A2 (rat monoclonal)BDCat# 564,288Fluorochrome: BV711
Antibodyanti-IL-21, clone 3A3-N2 (mouse monoclonal)Miltenyi BiotecCat# 130-120-702Fluorochrome: APC
Antibodyanti-TNF-α, clone mAb11 (mouse monoclonal)eBioscienceCat# 11-7349-82Fluorochrome: FITC
Antibodyanti-CD40L, clone 24–31 (mouse monoclonal) (mouse monoclonal)BioLegendCat# 310,825Fluorochrome: BV605
Antibodyanti-Granzyme B, clone GB11 (mouse monoclonal)BDCat# 560,213Fluorochrome: Alx700
Chemical compound, drugBD FACS Lyse Solution, 10×BDCat #349,202doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22590 VC
Chemical compound, drugBD FACS Perm II, 10×BDCat #340,973doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22590VC
Chemical compound, drugBrefeldin ASigma Chemical Co.Cat #B-7651Final concentration of 10 µg/mldoi:10.1002/cyto.a.22590 VC
Chemical compound, drugCD28/49d (BD Biosciences)BDCat #347,690Final concentration of 1 µg/mldoi:10.1002/cyto.a.22590 VC
Chemical compound, drugGolgi Stop containing monensinBDCat #554,724doi:10.1002/cyto.a.22590 VC
Peptide, recombinant proteinRecombinant AMA1WRAIRFVO strain, GMP produced in E. coli
Peptide, recombinant proteinCSP peptide pooldoi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.01008Biosynthan (RNA-sequencing stimulations) and Biosynthesis (ICS stimulations)
Peptide, recombinant proteinHBS peptide pooldoi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.01008Biosynthan (RNAseq stimulations) and Biosynthesis (ICS stimulations)
Sequence-based reagentUniversal adapter
E5V6NEXT: 5′-iCiGiCACACTCT
TTCCCTACACGACGCrGrGrG-3′
Integrated DNA TechnologiesiC: iso-dC, iG: iso-dG, rG: RNA G
Sequence-based reagentBarcoded adapter E3V6NEXT:
5′-/5Biosg/ACACTCTTTCCCT
ACACGACGCTCTTCCGATC
T[BC6]N10T30VN-3′
Integrated DNA Technologies5Biosg = 5′ biotin, [BC6] = 6 bp barcode specific to each cell/well, N10 = unique molecular identifiers, 10 bp
Sequence-based reagent
SINGV6 primer: 5′-/5Biosg/ACACTC
TTTCCCTACACGACGC-3′
Integrated DNA Technologies
Sequence-based reagentP5NEXTPT5 primer: 5′-
AATGATACGGCGACC
ACCGAGATCTACACT
CTTTCCCTACACGAC
GCTCTTCC*G*A*T*C*T-3′
Integrated DNA Technologies* = phosphorothioate bonds
Chemical compound, drugSEBSigma Chemical Co.Cat #S4881
Commercial assay or kitSV96 Total RNA Isolation SystemPromegaCat# Z3500
Commercial assay or kitDNA Clean & Concentrator-5 columnZymo ResearchCat# D4004
Commercial assay or kitAdvantage 2 Polymerase MixTakara BioCat# 639,202
Commercial assay or kitdsDNA HS AssayLife TechnologiesCat# Q32851
Commercial assay or kitNextera XT library preparation kitIlluminaCat# FC-131–1096
Commercial assay or kitQIAquick Gel Extraction KitQiagenCat# 28706 × 4
Chemical compound, drugDMSOSigmaCat# D2650
Software, algorithmRThe R FoundationR version 4.0.4 (2021-02-15)
Software, algorithmBurrows-Wheeler Aligner (BWA)https://sourceforge.net/projects/bio-bwa/BWA Aln version 0.7.10
Software, algorithmFlowJoBD Life SciencesFlowJo version 9.9 Tree Star
OtherRLT bufferQiagenCat# 79,216
OtherRNA protectQiagenCat# 76,104
Other96-Well V-bottomed plateKisker, AttendBioCat# G096-VB
OtherAdhesive foilKisker, AttendBioCat# G071-P
OtherAviDInvitrogenCat# L349570.5 µl reagent/50 µl staining volumedoi:10.1002/cyto.a.22590 VC
OtherMaxima H Minus Reverse TranscriptaseThermo ScientificCat# EP0751
OtherExonuclease INew England BioLabsCat# M0293S
OtherAgencourt AMPure XP magnetic beadsBeckman CoulterCat# A638810.6×
OtherE-Gel EX Gel, 2%Thermo FisherCat# G401002
OtherRNA 6000 Pico ChipAgilentCat# 5067-1513
Table 1
Numbers, age group, and case–control status of participants by site for whom peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) RNA-seq data were available at months 0 and/or 3.
Month 0
Cases (n = 14)Controls (n = 43)Not included in the case–control (n = 70)
BagomoyoManhiçaBagomoyoManhiçaBagomoyoManhiça
InfantsChildrenInfantsChildrenInfantsChildrenInfantsChildrenInfantsChildrenInfantsChildren
RTS,S/AS01 (n = 88)09000290004109
Comparator (n = 39)05000120201901
Month 3
Cases (n = 54)Controls (n = 142)Not included in the case–control (n = 161)
BagomoyoManhiçaBagomoyoManhiçaBagomoyoManhiça
InfantsChildrenInfantsChildrenInfantsChildrenInfantsChildrenInfantsChildrenInfantsChildren
RTS,S/AS01 (n = 222)0191200514100562815
Comparator (n = 135)01661030164029294
Author response table 1
Present manuscript: Baseline signature associated with riskMoncunill et al. 2020 STM: Protective signature
PBMC sampling timepointBaseline1 month post-third vaccination
PBMC stimulationVehicle (DMSO); stimulated on site before cryopreservation of cell pellets for subsequent RNA extraction.24-hour antigen (CSP) stimulation adjusted by vehicle (DMSO); PBMC were cryopreserved before stimulation
Background correctionN/AYes, subtraction of expression in vehicle-stimulated PBMC (thus the observed response is specific to antigen stimulation, i.e. recall response)
Presence of monocyte-related BTMsYes, of the 45 BTMs, 7 were monocyte-related: M81, M118.1, M11.0, M118.0, S4, M73, M4.15Yes, of the 24 BTMs, 3 were monocyte-related: M81, M118.1, M11.0
Gene expression measurementRNA-seqMicroarray
Hypothesis:Stabilin-1high immunosuppressive monocytes circulating at baseline may inhibit protective RTS,S-induced T-cell responses [supported by (18)] or another RTS,S-induced protective adaptive response.Protected individuals may have monocytes that are qualitatively superior in mediating, e.g., Fc receptor/antibody-dependent responses (reflected by an altered transcriptional profile), resulting in improved control of infection.

Additional files

Supplementary file 1

Complete information on study participant site, case–control matching ID, age cohort, sex assigned at birth, vaccine group, date of first dose vaccination, and case–control status.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-supp1-v1.zip
Supplementary file 2

Numbers, age group, and case–control status of RTS,S/AS01 recipients by site for whom months 0 and/or 3 peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples were included in the ICS/immunophenotyping analysis.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-supp2-v1.docx
Supplementary file 3

List of the 68 ‘RTS,S/AS01 signature BTMs’ (Comparison 1 in Figure 2) tested as immune correlates.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-supp3-v1.csv
Supplementary file 4

List of 35 individual genes whose baseline expression in vehicle-treated peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) significantly associated with risk in MAL067.

These individual genes were obtained by looking at gene-level correlate heatmaps (Figure 6—figure supplements 29) of the eight blood transcriptional modules (BTMs) (M4.0, S10, S5, M168, M4.3, M11.0, M4.15, and S4) that significantly associated with risk in MAL067 and in two controlled human malaria infection (CHMI studies). The table also contains information on whether each individual gene also significantly associated with risk in a CHMI study (check mark; columns 2 through 4).

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-supp4-v1.docx
Transparent reporting form
https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/70393/elife-70393-transrepform1-v1.docx

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  1. Gemma Moncunill
  2. Jason Carnes
  3. William Chad Young
  4. Lindsay Carpp
  5. Stephen De Rosa
  6. Joseph J Campo
  7. Augusto Nhabomba
  8. Maxmillian Mpina
  9. Chenjerai Jairoce
  10. Greg Finak
  11. Paige Haas
  12. Carl Muriel
  13. Phu Van
  14. Héctor Sanz
  15. Sheetij Dutta
  16. Benjamin Mordmüller
  17. Selidji T Agnandji
  18. Núria Díez-Padrisa
  19. Nana Aba Williams
  20. John J Aponte
  21. Clarissa Valim
  22. Daniel E Neafsey
  23. Claudia Daubenberger
  24. M Juliana McElrath
  25. Carlota Dobaño
  26. Ken Stuart
  27. Raphael Gottardo
(2022)
Transcriptional correlates of malaria in RTS,S/AS01-vaccinated African children: a matched case–control study
eLife 11:e70393.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.70393