immune response

American  

noun

1. any of the body's immunologic reactions to an antigen.

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immune response British  

noun

1. the reaction of an organism's body to foreign materials (antigens), including the production of antibodies

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immune response Scientific  

/ ĭ-myo̅o̅n′ /

1. A protective response of the body's immune system to an antigen, especially a microorganism or virus that causes disease. The immune response involves the action of lymphocytes that deactivate antigens either by stimulating the production of antibodies (humoral immune response) or by a direct attack on foreign cells (cell-mediated immune response.) An inability to produce a normal immune response results in immunodeficiency diseases such as AIDS.

2. See also cell-mediated immune response humoral immune response

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Etymology

Origin of immune response

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

RP1 is an oncolytic virus therapy that turbo-charges the immune response in people resistant to other immunotherapies.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

In this case, the virus has been modified to replicate only inside tumor cells, causing them to burst, while simultaneously triggering a more aggressive immune response from the body’s own white blood cells.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

The risk of an immune response is common to peptide drugs in general.

From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026

As the immune response builds and tuft cells increase in number, they begin producing a slower, sustained release of the same signal.

From Science Daily • Mar. 28, 2026

In contrast, mice inoculated with the rough strain mounted an immune response and survived.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee