Alea Christine Delmastro

All Publications

• Malaria-specific Type 1 regulatory T cells are more abundant in first pregnancies and associated with placental malaria. EBioMedicine Kirosingh, A. S., Delmastro, A., Kakuru, A., van der Ploeg, K., Bhattacharya, S., Press, K. D., Ty, M., Parte, L., Kizza, J., Muhindo, M., Devachanne, S., Gamain, B., Nankya, F., Musinguzi, K., Rosenthal, P. J., Feeney, M. E., Kamya, M., Dorsey, G., Jagannathan, P. 2023; 95: 104772

  Abstract

  Malaria in pregnancy (MIP) causes higher morbidity in primigravid compared to multigravid women; however, the correlates and mechanisms underlying this gravidity-dependent protection remain incompletely understood. We aimed to compare the cellular immune response between primigravid and multigravid women living in a malaria-endemic region and assess for correlates of protection against MIP.We characterised the second trimester cellular immune response among 203 primigravid and multigravid pregnant women enrolled in two clinical trials of chemoprevention in eastern Uganda, utilizing RNA sequencing, flow cytometry, and functional assays. We compared responses across gravidity and determined associations with parasitaemia during pregnancy and placental malaria.Using whole blood RNA sequencing, no significant differentially expressed genes were identified between primigravid (n = 12) and multigravid (n = 11) women overall (log 2(FC) > 2, FDR < 0.1). However, primigravid (n = 49) women had higher percentages of malaria-specific, non-naïve CD4+ T cells that co-expressed IL-10 and IFNγ compared with multigravid (n = 85) women (p = 0.000023), and higher percentages of these CD4+ T cells were associated with greater risks of parasitaemia in pregnancy (Rs = 0.49, p = 0.001) and placental malaria (p = 0.0073). These IL-10 and IFNγ co-producing CD4+ T cells had a genomic signature of Tr1 cells, including expression of transcription factors cMAF and BATF and cell surface makers CTLA4 and LAG-3.Malaria-specific Tr1 cells were highly prevalent in primigravid Ugandan women, and their presence correlated with a higher risk of malaria in pregnancy. Understanding whether suppression of Tr1 cells plays a role in naturally acquired gravidity-dependent immunity may aid the development of new vaccines or treatments for MIP.This work was funded by NIH (PO1 HD059454, U01 AI141308, U19 AI089674, U01 AI155325, U01 AI150741), the March of Dimes (Basil O'Connor award), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP 1113682).

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ebiom.2023.104772

  View details for PubMedID 37634385

• Embedding Azobenzene-Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes into a Polymer Matrix for Stretchable, Composite Solar Thermal Devices JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C Colburn, T. W., Delmastro, A. C., Figueroa, M., Lopez, F., Cooper, C. B. 2022

  View details for DOI 10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c03865

  View details for Web of Science ID 000853650400001

• The immunoregulatory landscape of human tuberculosis granulomas. Nature immunology McCaffrey, E. F., Donato, M., Keren, L., Chen, Z., Delmastro, A., Fitzpatrick, M. B., Gupta, S., Greenwald, N. F., Baranski, A., Graf, W., Kumar, R., Bosse, M., Fullaway, C. C., Ramdial, P. K., Forgó, E., Jojic, V., Van Valen, D., Mehra, S., Khader, S. A., Bendall, S. C., van de Rijn, M., Kalman, D., Kaushal, D., Hunter, R. L., Banaei, N., Steyn, A. J., Khatri, P., Angelo, M. 2022

  Abstract

  Tuberculosis (TB) in humans is characterized by formation of immune-rich granulomas in infected tissues, the architecture and composition of which are thought to affect disease outcome. However, our understanding of the spatial relationships that control human granulomas is limited. Here, we used multiplexed ion beam imaging by time of flight (MIBI-TOF) to image 37 proteins in tissues from patients with active TB. We constructed a comprehensive atlas that maps 19 cell subsets across 8 spatial microenvironments. This atlas shows an IFN-γ-depleted microenvironment enriched for TGF-β, regulatory T cells and IDO1+ PD-L1+ myeloid cells. In a further transcriptomic meta-analysis of peripheral blood from patients with TB, immunoregulatory trends mirror those identified by granuloma imaging. Notably, PD-L1 expression is associated with progression to active TB and treatment response. These data indicate that in TB granulomas, there are local spatially coordinated immunoregulatory programs with systemic manifestations that define active TB.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41590-021-01121-x

  View details for PubMedID 35058616

• Rhesus Macaque CODEX Multiplexed Immunohistochemistry Panel for Studying Immune Responses During Ebola Infection FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY Jiang, S., Mukherjee, N., Bennett, R. S., Chen, H., Logue, J., Dighero-Kemp, B., Kurtz, J. R., Adams, R., Phillips, D., Schuerch, C. M., Goltsev, Y., Hickey, J. W., McCaffrey, E. F., Delmastro, A., Chu, P., Reader, J., Keesler, R., Galvan, J. A., Zlobec, I., Van Rompay, K. A., Liu, D. X., Hensley, L. E., Nolan, G. P., McIlwain, D. R. 2021; 12: 729845

  Abstract

  Non-human primate (NHP) animal models are an integral part of the drug research and development process. For some biothreat pathogens, animal model challenge studies may offer the only possibility to evaluate medical countermeasure efficacy. A thorough understanding of host immune responses in such NHP models is therefore vital. However, applying antibody-based immune characterization techniques to NHP models requires extensive reagent development for species compatibility. In the case of studies involving high consequence pathogens, further optimization for use of inactivated samples may be required. Here, we describe the first optimized CO-Detection by indEXing (CODEX) multiplexed tissue imaging antibody panel for deep profiling of spatially resolved single-cell immune responses in rhesus macaques. This 21-marker panel is composed of a set of 18 antibodies that stratify major immune cell types along with a set three Ebola virus (EBOV)-specific antibodies. We validated these two sets of markers using immunohistochemistry and CODEX in fully inactivated Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) tissues from mock and EBOV challenged macaques respectively and provide an efficient framework for orthogonal validation of multiple antibody clones using CODEX multiplexed tissue imaging. We also provide the antibody clones and oligonucleotide tag sequences as a valuable resource for other researchers to recreate this reagent set for future studies of tissue immune responses to EBOV infection and other diseases.

  View details for DOI 10.3389/fimmu.2021.729845

  View details for Web of Science ID 000732063400001

  View details for PubMedID 34938283

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8685521