Natural Killer Cells Interaction with Carbon Nanoparticles

The increased use of nanomaterials for biomedical purposes has warranted the need to introspect their toxicological properties and assess their utility to human health, particularly the immune system. Natural killer (NK) cells hold a pivotal position in innate immunity and serve as first line of defense against foreign bodies. Acid functionalized Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that easily polydisperse in aqueous solution and could be coupled with fluorescent molecules were used to study the effect of carbon nanoparticles on NK cells in vitro and in vivo. Flow cytometry-based assays were used to study the effect of CNTs on various physiological parameters of NK cells, such as cell recovery, apoptosis, cell cycle, and generation of reactive oxygen species. A downregulation of the cytotoxicity of IL-2-activated murine NK cells was observed in the presence of acid-functionalized CNTs. The mechanistic basis of this downregulation was studied by assessing markers of NK cell activation (CD69), generation (NLK1.1), degranulation (CD107a) and apoptosis (annexin V assay). This chapter provides a blueprint for assessing the effect of carbon nanoparticles on NK cells. The assays mentioned in this chapter can be extrapolated to study the effect of other nanoparticles on different cell types as well