This chapter delves further into how antibodies actually function in eliminating foreign materials from bodily fluids. Antibodies by themselves are relatively ineffective in eliminating foreign matter. They act mainly as “tags”, labeling microbial cells, viruses, and foreign proteins for engulfment by scavenger cells called macrophages. When bound to a cell surface, antibodies can also serve as anchor points for serum proteins refered to collectively as complement, which insert pores into cells, killing them through osmotic lysis.
Keywords: antibody function, macrophages, complement, agglutination, osmotic lysis,