M. Vowell

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Second, it has a few extra-sneaky ways of finding new victims. In Cell-to-Cell Spread, the virus can be transmitted from one cell directly to another one. Here, HIV makes use of an important mechanism of your immune cells: Immunological synapses. When immune cells interact directly to activate each other, they sort of bash their faces together and lick each other’s cheeks. Which means, getting very close and touching each other with many short extensions, called pseudopodia. It looks a bit funny, like many short fingers reaching out of the cells—this is the way many immune cells check each ...more
Immune: A Journey Into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive
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