Immunotoxin

A hybrid molecule created by coupling an antibody or antigen with part or all of a toxin.

The hybrid molecule combines the specificity of the antibody or antigen with the toxicity of the toxin.

The possible targets of immunotoxins include cancer cells and cells containing HIV.

The term 'immunotoxin' has come into media usage as, for example, in: 'Then we come in with the immunotoxin,' he said.

It is a molecule-size smidgen of bacterial poison attached to an antibody that gloms onto the T cell and injects the toxin.' (Trying to Kill AIDS Virus by Luring It Out of Hiding, New York Times, Sept 23, 2003)