Endogenous antigen presentation impacts on T-box transcription factor expression and functional maturation of CD8⁺ T cells

T-box transcription factors T-bet (Tbx21) and Eomesodermin (Eomes) are critical players in CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocyte effector function and differentiation but how the expression of these transcription factors is regulated remains poorly defined. Here we show that dominant T cells directed towards human cytomegalovirus (CMV), expressing significantly higher levels of T-bet with graded loss of Eomes expression (T-bet(hi)Eomes(hi/lo)), are more efficient in recognizing endogenously processed peptide-major histocompatibility complexes (pMHC) when compared to subdominant virus-specific T cells expressing lower levels of T-bet and high levels of Eomes (T-bet(int)Eomes(hi)). Paradoxically, the T-bet(hi)Eomes(hi/lo) dominant populations that efficiently recognised endogenous antigen demonstrated lower intrinsic avidity for pMHC, whilst T-bet(int)Eomes(hi) subdominant populations were characterized by higher pMHC avidity and less efficient recognition of virus-infected cells. Importantly, differential endogenous viral antigen recognition by CMV-specific CD8(+) T cells also correlated with the differentiation status and expression of perforin, granzyme B and K. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the expression of T-bet correlates with clonal expansion, differentiation status and expression of perforin, granzyme B and K in antigen-specific T cells. These findings illustrate how endogenous viral antigen presentation during persistent viral infection may influence the transcriptional program of virus-specific T cells and their functional profile in the peripheral blood of humans.