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. 2016 Oct 7;3(6):e288. doi: 10.1212/NXI.0000000000000288

Figure 1. Aquaporin-4 (AQP4)–immunoglobulin G binds to AQP4 antigen located on the foot processes of astrocytes.

Figure 1

This complex activates complement resulting in membrane attack complexes (MAC) deposition. Neutrophil degranulation leads to astrocyte death, which in turn causes oligodendrocyte death and axonal degeneration. AQP4-antibody-antigen complex leads to complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) in the presence of complement system or antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) using cytotoxic CD16+ natural killer (NK) cells.