Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity
CYTOLYSIS OF TARGET CELLS BY NATURAL KILLER CELLS, EOSINOPHILS, NEUTROPHILS, MONOCYTES, OR MACROPHAGES FOLLOWING ENGAGEMENT OF ANTIBODIES BOUND TO THE TARGET CELLS
Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity; Antibody-Dependent Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity; Antibody Dependent Cell Mediated Cytotoxicity; Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity; Antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity; Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytoxicity; Antibody-dependent cellular toxicity
Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), also referred to as antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, is a mechanism of cell-mediated immune defense whereby an effector cell of the immune system actively lyses a target cell, whose membrane-surface antigens have been bound by specific antibodies. It is one of the mechanisms through which antibodies, as part of the humoral immune response, can act to limit and contain infection.