Moreover, although the level of pre-erythrocytic stage protection induced by immunisation with Com1/4 was not markedly higher than that induced by the leading malaria vaccine target CSP, Com1/4 induced a higher frequency of IFN-γ expressing CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, as well as triple positive and double positive cytokine secreting T cells, whereas CSP induced a much more robust sporozoite-targeted antibody response. Here, CD8A is linked to malaria.