Definition of "effector" [ef•fect•or]

• A muscle, gland, or organ capable of responding to a stimulus, especially a nerve impulse. (noun)
• A nerve ending that carries impulses to a muscle, gland, or organ and activates muscle contraction or glandular secretion. (noun)
• Biochemistry A small molecule that when bound to an allosteric site of an enzyme causes either a decrease or an increase in the activity of the enzyme. (noun)
• Computer Science A device used to produce a desired change in an object in response to input. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "She said the new findings reinforce the notion that V. para kills a host cell through the combined efforts of several so-called effector proteins working together rather than through the actions of a single protein."
• "This process is called effector triggered immunity (ETI)."
• "Its primary way of killing cancer cells is by eliciting an immune response, drawing what are known as effector cells (various types of killer white blood cells) to the tumor and activating them."