Cytotoxicity assessment of organotin(IV) (2-metoxyethyl) methyldithiocarbamate compounds in human leukemia cell lines

Abstract

Dibutyltin(IV) (2-methoxyethyl) methyldithiocarbamate (Compound 1) and tricyclohexyltin(IV) (2-methoxyethyl) methyldithiocarbamate (Compound 2) were used to evaluate their cytotoxicity against three human leukemic cell lines namely Jurkat E6.1, K562, and HL-60. The cytotoxicity of these compounds was assessed using MTT assay for treatment duration of 24 hours. The morphological changes were also observed upon the induction of these compounds with the IC50 value for 24 hours. Both compounds demonstrated high cytotoxicity towards the cell lines tested, with IC50 values of 0.14–1.30 µM (Jurkat E6.1), 0.06–0.18 µM (HL-60) and 5.20-5.40 µM (K562). The morphological changes of the cell lines induced by both compounds mostly showed characteristics of cell death via apoptosis. In conclusion, both compounds exhibited good cytotoxicity towards the cell lines tested. However, further studies are needed to identify the exact mode of cell death and the mechanisms of action of these compounds in induced human leukemic cell lines.