Frontline Science: PECAM-1 (CD31) expression in naïve and memory, but not acutely activated, CD8⁺ T cells

Inhibitory cell surface proteins on T cells are often dynamically regulated, which contributes to their physiologic function. PECAM-1 (CD31) is an inhibitory receptor that facilitates TGF-β-mediated suppression of T cell activity. It is well established in CD4⁺ T cells that PECAM-1 is expressed in naïve recent thymic emigrants, but is down-regulated after acute T cell activation and absent from memory cells. The extent to which PECAM-1 expression is similarly regulated in CD8⁺ T cells is much less well characterized. We evaluated T cells recovered from mice after infection with a model intracellular pathogen and determined that, in CD8⁺ T cells, PECAM-1 expression was strongly down-regulated during acute infection but re-expressed to intermediate levels in memory cells. Down-regulation of PECAM-1 expression in CD8⁺ T cells was transcriptionally regulated and affected by the strength and nature of TCR signaling. PECAM-1 was also detected on the surface of human activated/memory CD8⁺ , but not CD4⁺ T cells. These data demonstrate that PECAM-1 expression is dynamically regulated, albeit differently, in both CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells. Furthermore, unlike memory CD4⁺ T cells, memory CD8⁺ T cells retain PECAM-1 expression and have the potential to be modulated by this inhibitory receptor.