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Mark Cichocki, R.N.
AIDS / HIV Blog

By Mark Cichocki, R.N., About.com Guide to AIDS / HIV

What is Tropism and Why is it Important?

Thursday March 6, 2008
HIV needs to attach to our cells to make copies of itself. HIV uses one of two receptor sites to attach to the CD4 cell. A person's HIV usually uses one receptor or the other, meaning certain people have an HIV type that uses CCR5 receptors to attach to the cell and others have an HIV types that uses CXCR4 receptors. This is known as tropism. What is tropism and why is it important?

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