RECEPTOR
\ɹɪsˈɛptə], \ɹɪsˈɛptə], \ɹ_ɪ_s_ˈɛ_p_t_ə]\
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an organ having nerve endings (in the skin or viscera or eye or ear or nose or mouth) that respond to stimulation
By Princeton University
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an organ having nerve endings (in the skin or viscera or eye or ear or nose or mouth) that respond to stimulation
By DataStellar Co., Ltd
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1. In Ehrlich's theory of immunity, one of the side chains of the cell which combine with foreign substances; this foreign substance may be something needed for the nutrition of the cell or it may be a destructive toxin. When some or all the receptors of a cell are bound by toxin, the remaining receptors of that cell, or the receptors of uninjured cells, are stimulated to overproduction (see Weigert's law); those in excess of the needs of the cell are thrown off and circulate in the blood; there they seize upon any toxin present and bind it so that it is unable to attack the cell; these free receptors in the blood-plasma constitute the antitoxin. 2. Sherrington's term for one of the nerve-endings in the skin and organs of sense.
By Stedman, Thomas Lathrop
