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Journal of Virology, April 2005, p. 4510-4513, Vol. 79, No. 7
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.79.7.4510-4513.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Complex Memory T-Cell Phenotypes Revealed by Coexpression of CD62L and CCR7
Heike Unsoeld and
Hanspeter Pircher*
Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Department of Immunology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Received 20 July 2004/
Accepted 22 November 2004

ABSTRACT
Antigen-experienced T cells have been divided into CD62L
+ CCR7
+ central memory (T
CM) and CD62L
CCR7
effector memory
(T
EM) cells. Here, we examined coexpression of CD62L and CCR7
in lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus-specific memory CD8 T
cells from both lymphoid and nonlymphoid tissues. Three main
points emerged: firstly, memory cells frequently expressed a
mixed CD62L
CCR7
+ phenotype that differed from the phenotypes
of classical T
EM and T
CM cells; secondly, T
CM cells were not
restricted to lymphoid organs but were also present in significant
numbers in nonlymphoid tissues; and thirdly, a major shift from
a T
CM to T
EM phenotype was found in memory cells that had been
stimulated repetitively with antigen.

TEXT
Based on expression of CD62L and CCR7, memory T cells have been
divided into two main subsets (
14): central memory T cells (T
CM),
expressing both CD62L and CCR7 and representing nonpolarized
antigen-experienced cells, and effector memory cells (T
EM),
lacking CD62L/CCR7 cell surface expression but capable of performing
immediate effector cell functions. Studies with mice further
demonstrated that in response to antigen, a significant number
of T cells leave secondary lymphoid tissues and reside as long-lived
memory cells in nonlymphoid tissues (
8,
10-
12). Memory T cells
isolated from nonlymphoid tissues were found to exhibit cytolytic
activities and to produce inflammatory cytokines, in contrast
to memory cells from secondary lymphoid organs (
11,
12). The
results of these mouse models fit nicely into the T
CM/T
EM concept
(
14), which was based primarily on phenotypic and functional
analysis of human memory T cells in vitro. However, the in vivo
CD62L/CCR7 expression patterns of true antigen-specific memory
T cells isolated from different lymphoid and nonlymphoid tissues
have not yet been characterized in detail.
To address this issue, we used a well-characterized adoptive transfer system with P14 T-cell receptor transgenic cells specific for the major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted GP33 epitope of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) to generate bona fide memory CD8 T cells in vivo (18). Briefly, 105 Thy1.1+ P14 T cells were transferred intravenously into C57BL/6 (B6) mice, followed by infection with 200 PFU of LCMV-WE. LCMV infection in this transfer model leads to high viral titers (106 to 107 PFU/g) in the spleen on day 4 after infection. By day 8 postinfection, LCMV is cleared almost completely (<102 PFU/g of tissue) in all organs (19). Tissue distribution and cell surface phenotype of P14 memory cells were determined 7 weeks after LCMV infection by flow cytometry using antibodies specific for Thy1.1 (clone OX-7) and CD62L (clone Mel14) that had been purchased from BD Pharmingen (San Diego, Calif.). Cell surface expression of CCR7 was determined by a chimeric CCL19-immunoglobulin fusion protein (15). Lymphocytes from lymphoid organs and from perfused liver and lungs were isolated and stained by using standard protocols (13, 15). Collagenase treatment was omitted, since it resulted in partial digestion of CD62L during lymphocyte isolation from liver but not from lung, spleen, and lymph nodes (data not shown). Cells were analyzed on a FACSCalibur flow cytometer (BD Biosciences). Similar to observations in other viral systems (8, 10, 11), higher frequencies of LCMV-specific P14 memory cells were found in liver and lung than in blood, spleen, and lymph nodes (Fig. 1A).
Examination of P14 memory cells for coexpression of CD62L and
CCR7 revealed three major memory T-cell subsets: CD62L
+ CCR7
+,
CD62L
CCR7
+, and CD62L
CCR7
cells (Fig.
1B). According to previous definitions (
14), CD62L
+ CCR7
+ and
CD62L
CCR7
cells were classified as P14 T
CM and
P14 T
EM cells, respectively. The third memory cell population
expressing CCR7 in the absence of CD62L was not previously noted
and is therefore defined operationally in this study as intermediate
memory T cells (T
IM). Analysis of P14 memory cells from lymphoid
and nonlymphoid tissues revealed the following picture (Fig.
1C): P14 T
CM (38% ± 13%), P14 T
EM (28 ± 11%),
and P14 T
IM (25 ± 9%) memory cell populations were present
in roughly equal numbers in the blood, P14 T
CM cells (60% ±
10%) predominated in the spleen, and P14 T
CM (55% ± 9%)
and P14 T
IM (30% ± 13%) cells represented the two major
cell populations in inguinal lymph nodes. In the lung, most
of the P14 cells exhibited a T
EM phenotype (51% ± 9%),
followed by T
CM (26% ± 7%) and T
IM (16% ± 6%).
The differentiation pathway of TCM and TEM cells is a matter of debate. Sallusto et al. (14) proposed that antigen stimulation leads to TCM cells that can then further differentiate into TEM, whereas data obtained by Wherry et al. (16) with the LCMV mouse model favored the opposite view. The authors of the latter study proposed a conversion of TEM to TCM cells over time after viral clearance. Differentiation of memory T cells may also be influenced by repeated antigenic stimulation (1). To mimic a priming and boosting regimen in our transfer model, memory P14 T cells, isolated from the spleen of LCMV immune mice 7 weeks after infection, were retransferred into B6 mice followed by a second LCMV infection (Fig. 2A). This resulted in a strong wave of proliferation of P14 memory cells followed by a decline similar to that observed in primary transfers with naive P14 cells (Fig. 2B). Interestingly, the CD62L/CCR7 phenotype of these secondary P14 memory cells, also isolated 7 weeks postinfection, differed considerably from primary P14 memory T cells. In all organs analyzed, a clear shift from P14 TCM to P14 TEM cells was apparent (Fig. 2C). This was particularly evident in the blood, where the fraction of P14 TCM cells dropped from 38% ± 13% to 8 ± 4% and the proportion of P14 TEM cells rose from 28% ± 11% to 56% ± 12%. To provide evidence that secondary P14 TEM cells were indeed derived from P14 TCM cells, 105 CD62L+ CCR7+ P14 T cells from primary transfers (5 weeks postinfection) were purified by cell sorting and were retransferred into B6 recipient mice, followed by LCMV infection. The CD62L/CCR7 phenotypes, analyzed 8 weeks after transfer and infection (Fig. 3), were similar to the data shown in Fig. 2C obtained with nonpurified P14 memory cells. Comparison of secondary versus primary P14 memory cells again revealed a significant shift from a TCM to a TEM phenotype in all organs analyzed. Hence, our data indicate that repetitive antigen stimulation induces a differentiation from P14 TCM to P14 TEM cells in vivo.
In conclusion, our data demonstrate that memory CD8 T cells
frequently express a mixed CD62L
CCR7
+ phenotype that
differs from phenotypes of classical CD62L
+ CCR7
+ T
CM and CD62L
CCR7
T
EM cells. In other words, expression of CD62L and
CCR7 in bona fide memory CD8 T cells in vivo overlaps only partially.
This point is important, since some groups use expression of
CD62L alone to distinguish T
CM and T
EM cells (
5,
16,
17), whereas
others use expression of CCR7 (
2,
4,
9,
14,
15) for the same
purpose. Very recently, coexpression of CD62L and CCR7 in CD4
T cells from influenza virus-infected mice has been described
(
3). Similar to our data with CD8 T cells, CD4 T cells carrying
a mixed CD62L
CCR7
+ phenotype were also found. However,
in contrast to our approach, bona fide antigen-specific memory
T cells could not be identified in the latter study. Another
important aspect of our report concerns the presence of sizeable
numbers of P14 memory T cells in liver and lung that expressed
a T
CM phenotype. Thus, despite being equipped with two major
lymph node homing receptors, CD62L (
7) and CCR7 (
6), these cells
were located in nonlymphoid organs. This result cautions against
the exclusive use of cell surface phenotypes to predict tissue
localization. Finally, the shift from a T
CM to a T
EM phenotype
in P14 memory cells that had been stimulated twice with antigen
indicates that T
CM/T
EM differentiation pathways could be influenced
by a priming/boosting regimen. This result is also relevant
for vaccine strategies, since it predicts that repetitive antigen
exposure favors T
EM differentiation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank S. Batsford for comments on the manuscript.
This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (PI 295/5).

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Department of Immunology, Hermann-Herder-Str. 11, University of Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany. Phone: 49 761 203 6521. Fax: 49 761 203 6577. E-mail:
hanspeter.pircher{at}uniklinik-freiburg.de.


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Journal of Virology, April 2005, p. 4510-4513, Vol. 79, No. 7
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.79.7.4510-4513.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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