Butyltins, Tributyltin (TBT) And Dibutyltin (DBT) Alter Secretion Of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNFα) From Human Natural Killer (NK) Cells And A Mixture of T cells and NK Cells

Kelsi D Hurt, Tennessee State University

Abstract

Butyltins (BTs) are organotin compounds that have several different uses. Tributyltin (TBT) has been used as a biocide in a variety of applications, contaminates the environment, and found in human blood samples. Dibutyltin (DBT) has been used as a stabilizer in polyvinyl chloride plastics as a de-worming agent in poultry therefore, can be consumed by humans through such uses and much like TBT can be found in human blood samples. Human natural killer (NK) cells are the earliest defense against tumors and viral infections and secrete the cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha (α). TNFα promotes inflammatory response and a malignant transformation, in which then inflammation has been established. Also, it is a regulator of both adaptive and innate immune responses. Previously, we have shown that both TBT and DBT were able to interfere with the ability if NK cells to lyse tumor target cells, so it hypothesized that these BTs can alter cytokine secretion by NK cells as this is also a critical function of these cells. The current study examines the consequences of 24 h, 48 h, and 6 day exposures to TBT and DBT on TNFα secretion by highly enriched human NK cells as well as a mixture of primarily T cells and NK cells. The results indicate that concentrations of TBT of 200–2.5 nM and of DBT 5–0.05 µM caused significant alterations in the secretion of TNFα in both types of cell preparations.

Subject Area

Cellular biology|Biochemistry|Immunology

Recommended Citation

Kelsi D Hurt, "Butyltins, Tributyltin (TBT) And Dibutyltin (DBT) Alter Secretion Of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNFα) From Human Natural Killer (NK) Cells And A Mixture of T cells and NK Cells" (2012). ETD Collection for Tennessee State University. Paper AAI1519770.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI1519770

Share

COinS