effector

[ ih-fek-ter ]

noun

1. Also effecter. a person or thing that effects.
2. Physiology. an organ or cell that carries out a response to a nerve impulse.
3. Biochemistry. a substance, as a hormone, that increases or decreases the activity of an enzyme.
4. end effector:

   The device has three arms with effectors that can grip and pick up objects.

effector

/ ɪˈfɛktə /

noun

1. physiol a nerve ending that terminates in a muscle or gland and provides neural stimulation causing contraction or secretion

Word History and Origins

Origin of effector¹

1595–1605; < Latin, equivalent to effec-, variant stem of efficere ( effect ) + -tor -tor

Example Sentences

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists found that how tight a parental T cell grabs a cancer protein determines if its daughter cells will be anti-cancer effectors or exhausted.

From Science Daily

Professor Simona Stäger points out that CD4 T cells normally differentiate into effector cells from "naive" CD4 T cells.

From Science Daily

These findings suggest that ATP and histidine act as effector molecules that trigger structural conformational changes in the ribozyme, which further influence enzyme stability and activity.

From Science Daily

The researchers developed a method to interrogate the entire human proteome for 'effector' proteins, which can influence the stability of other proteins via induced proximity.

From Science Daily

"Essentially, this could lead to engineering novel nuclear shapes in effector immune cells, which is a new concept in therapeutics development."

From Science Daily