Kinetics of CCR7 expression differ between primary activation and effector memory states of T_H1 and T_H2 cells

We explored the kinetics of CCR7 expression on T_H1 and T_H2 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 T_H1 cell lines, as compared to T_H2 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 T_H2 cells had high CCR7 expression, whereas T_H1 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 T_H1 cells in the lymph node, and delayed priming with prolonged CCR7 expression during T_H2 responses, and may have implications for tracking T_H1 effector T cells ex vivo in autoimmune diseases.