Functional re-expression of CCR7 on CMV-specific CD8⁺ T cells upon antigenic stimulation

During latency circulating human cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific CD8⁺ T cells do not express the chemokine receptor CCR7. We here show that antigen-specific stimulation in vitro with the specific CMV-peptide in combination with CMV-antigen, IL-2 or IL-21 induced re-expression of CCR7 on CMV-specific CD8⁺ T cells. Although IL-15 induced strong proliferation of peptide-pulsed CMV-specific CD8⁺ T cells, these cells did not re-express CCR7. CMV-specific cells that re-expressed CCR7 also expressed CD62L and were able to react to specific chemokine stimulation with changes in the cytoskeleton. In addition, activated CMV-specific cells specifically migrated towards a chemokine gradient in a transwell assay, with and without an endothelial cell monolayer. We conclude that antigenic stimulation induced functional re-expression of CCR7 which suggests that the migratory properties of virus-primed T cells are flexible and depend on the presence or absence of antigen and cytokines.