"Different classes of antibodies play important roles in the body’s defense against pathogens. These functions include neutralization of pathogens, opsonization for phagocytosis, agglutination, complement activation, and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. For most of these functions, antibodies also provide an important link between adaptive specific immunity and innate nonspecific immunity. Neutralization involves the binding of certain antibodies, including IgG, IgM, or IgA, to epitopes on the surface of pathogens or toxins, preventing their attachment to cells. For example, secretory IgA can bind to specific pathogens and block initial attachment to intestinal mucosal cells. Similarly, specific antibodies can bind to certain toxins, blocking them from attaching to target cells and thus neutralizing their toxic effects. Viruses can be neutralized and prevented from infecting a cell by the same mechanism. Antibodies also serve as opsonins and inhibit infection by tagging pathogens for destruction by macrophages, dendritic cells, and neutrophils. These phagocytic cells use Fc receptors to bind to IgG-opsonized pathogens and initiate the first step of attachment before phagocytosis."