Tissue tropism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tissue tropism is a term most often used in virology to define the cells and tissues of a host which support growth of a particular virus. Bacteria and other parasites may also be referred to as having a tissue tropism.

Some viruses have a broad tissue tropism and can infect many types of cells and tissues. Other viruses may infect primarily a single tissue. Rabies virus affects primarily neuronal tissue, for example.

Factors influencing viral tissue tropism include:

• The presence of cellular receptors permitting viral entry.
• Availability of transcription factors involved in viral replication.