Organotin-Induced Caspase Activation and Apoptosis in Human Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes

In the present study, we show that the immunotoxicant, tributyltin (TBT), induces a dose-dependent activation of caspases followed by typical apoptotic morphology in resting human peripheral blood lymphocytes. TBT also caused an early loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and release of cytochrome c, suggesting that apoptosis was triggered by the mitochondrial pathway. When CD4+ T-cells were sorted from peripheral blood and exposed to...