Analyses for Asbestos in cultures or name of diseases Results References (i) Natural killer (NK) cells Human NK cell line, YT-A1 Culture with chrysotile Decreases in natural cytotoxicity, cell surface NKG2D, and 2B4 and phosphorylation of ERK [5 , 6 ] Peripheral blood CD56+ NK cells Malignant mesothelioma Low cytotoxicity, low expression of cell surface NKp46 [5 ] Human NK cells in PBMC Culture with chrysotile Decrease in cell surface NKp46 [5 ] (ii) T helper cells Human T cell line, MT-2 Culture with chrysotile Resistance against asbestos-induced apoptosis, increases in secretion of IL-10 and expression of bcl-2 mRNA, decreases in secretion of IFN- , TNF- , IL-6, and CXCL10, and surface expression and mRNA of CXCR3 [1 , 2 ] Culture with crocidolite Resistance against asbestos-induced apoptosis, increases in secretion of IL-10 and ratio of bcl-2/bax mRNAs, and decreases in secretion of IFN- and TNF- [4 ] Peripheral blood CD4+ T cells Malignant mesothelioma Very low expression of cell surface CXCR3, low IFN- mRNA, and high bcl-2 mRNA [1 , 3 ] Pleural plaque Low expression of cell surface CXCR3 [3 ] Isolated human CD4+ T cells Culture with chrysotile Decreases in cell surface CXCR3 and intracellular IFN- [3 ] (iii) Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) Human CD8+ T cells in mixed lymphocyte reaction Culture with chrysotile Decreases in allogeneic cytotoxicity and intracellular IFN- and granzyme B [7 ] Peripheral blood CD8+ T cells Malignant mesothelioma High percentage of perforin+ cells, stimulation-induced decrease in perforin+ cells [9 ] Pleural plaque High percentage of perforin+ cells [9 ]