I came across the term when reading about the risks of a COVID vaccine.
I tried reading the Wikipedia article, but it was far too complicated for me.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibody-dependent_enhancement
In: Biology
Antibodies are protein molecules that can attach specifically to some infectious thing, such as a virus. The immune system has cells that then attach to the other side of the antibody and take both it and the attached virus inside the cell, where it is destroyed. If for whatever reason the virus doesn’t get destroyed by the immune system cell, then that virus particle got a free ride inside a cell and can now infect it.
Antibodies are proteins designed to attach to a disease particle and weigh it down, like hand cuffing someone to a bowling ball. It also attaches bright blinky lights to draw the immune system’s attention. The problem comes in that proteins are all made out of the same thing – amino acids. And so it is common that you can chemically mistake a bowling ball protein for a key protein. In this case of ADE, the antibody accidentally acts as a key to assist the disease, which opens the lock to infect the human cell. In short, it’s making things worse and better at the same time. An unintended consequence.
The way antibodies are made, there is an element of chance and the body also keeps revising them, so this interaction is complex and won’t happen to everyone.
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