Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity

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 kills a target cell, whose membrane-surface antigens have been bound by specific antibodies.^[1] It is one of the mechanisms through which antibodies, as part of the humoral immune response, can act to limit and contain infection.^[2]

ADCC is independent of the immune complement system that also lyses targets but does not require any other cell. ADCC requires an effector cell which classically is known to be natural killer (NK) cells that typically interact with immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies.^[3] However, macrophages, neutrophils and eosinophils can also mediate ADCC, such as eosinophils killing certain parasitic worms known as helminths via IgE antibodies.^[4]

In general, ADCC has typically been described as the immune response to antibody-coated cells leading ultimately to the lysing of the infected or non-host cell. In recent literature, its importance in regards to treatment of cancerous cells and deeper insight into its deceptively complex pathways have been topics of increasing interest to medical researchers.