Differential B7–CD28 Costimulatory Requirements for Stable and Inflationary Mouse Cytomegalovirus-Specific Memory CD8 T Cell Populations

CMV establishes a lifelong persistent infection, and viral immune-modulating strategies are important in facilitating this. A particularly diverse CD8 T cell response develops as a result of this host-virus détente, with the CMV-specific memory T cell pool displaying unique functions and phenotypes. To gain insight into the factors that regulate CMV-specific CD8 T cell responses, we examined the influence of the B7–CD28 costimulatory pathway on magnitude, kinetics, and phenotype. Initial expansion of mouse CMV-specific CD8 T cells that establish stable memory pools was severely lower in mice lacking B7–CD28 signaling, and the resulting memory levels also remained reduced during persistent/latent infection. In contrast, expansion of CD8 T cells that undergo memory inflation during chronic infection was less affected in the absence of B7–CD28 costimulatory signals, eventually reaching the levels seen in wild-type mice at later times. Regardless of their differential requirements for B7–CD28 signals, both stable and inflationary memory T cell populations showed normal cytotoxic capacity. These results reveal that B7–CD28 costimulation differentially regulates the magnitude and kinetics of the multifaceted CD8 T cell response that develops during CMV infection.