Kinetics of CCR7 expression differ between primary activation and effector memory states of TH1 and TH2 cells

We explored the kinetics of CCR7 expression on TH1 and TH2 polarized cells as well as on antigen-specific T cell lines at various stages of differentiation. A striking pattern of early (days 7-14) inducible CCR7 expression was seen preferentially on primary TH1 cell lines, as compared to TH2 cells, and was dependent on the strength and duration of the T cell receptor signal. Upon repeated restimulation (days 21-28) and differentiation, a switch occurred in which TH2 cells had high CCR7 expression, whereas TH1 cells lost CCR7 expression. Chronic (8 weeks and later) effector memory cell lines were 95% CCR7 negative. These data demonstrate an ordered pattern of CCR7 expression that suggest more rapid priming of TH1 cells in the lymph node, and delayed priming with prolonged CCR7 expression during TH2 responses, and may have implications for tracking TH1 effector T cells ex vivo in autoimmune diseases.