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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Mar 14.
Published in final edited form as: Discov Med. 2010 Aug;10(51):125–133.

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Mechanisms of antibody-mediated protection. Besides causing injury to grafts, antibodies can protect grafts from injury. The mechanisms of antibody mediated protection include enhancement, complement control, and accommodation. In enhancement, antibodies bind to and block target antigens or interact with lymphocytes in ways that suppress lymphocyte functions. In complement control, antibodies serve as alternative targets for activation of complement (C3b and C4b), thus diverting complement away from cell surfaces. In accommodation, antibodies activate complement (C) on cell surfaces and in so doing change the biology of cells in ways that make the cells resist injury.