alt=|thumb|350px|Components of a Virosome A virosome is a drug or vaccine delivery mechanism consisting of unilamellar phospholipid membrane (either a mono- or bi-layer) vesicle incorporating virus-derived proteins to allow the virosomes to fuse with target cells. Viruses are infectious agents that can replicate in their host organism, however virosomes do not replicate. The properties that virosomes share with viruses are based on their structure; virosomes are essentially safely modified viral envelopes that contain the phospholipid membrane and surface glycoproteins. As a drug or vaccine de
alt=|thumb|350px|Components of a Virosome A virosome is a drug or vaccine delivery mechanism consisting of unilamellar phospholipid membrane (either a mono- or bi-layer) vesicle incorporating virus-derived proteins to allow the virosomes to fuse with target cells. Viruses are infectious agents that can replicate in their host organism, however virosomes do not replicate. The properties that virosomes share with viruses are based on their structure; virosomes are essentially safely modified viral envelopes that contain the phospholipid membrane and surface glycoproteins. As a drug or vaccine delivery mechanism they are biologically compatible with many host organisms and are also biodegradable. The use of reconstituted virally derived proteins in the formation of the virosome allows for the utilization of what would otherwise be the immunogenic properties of a live-attenuated virus, but is instead a safely killed virus. A safely killed virus can serve as a promising vector because it won't cause infection and the viral structure allows the virosome to recognize specific components of its target cells.
==Virosomes structure== Virosomes are vehicles that have a spherical shape with a phospholipid mono/bilayer membrane. Inside of the virosome, there is a central cavity that holds the therapeutic molecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, and drugs. On the surface of the virosome, there can be different types of glycoproteins. Glycoproteins are a type of protein that have an oligosaccharide chain bonded to amino acid chains. The different types of glycoproteins on the surface of the virosome increases the specificity of the target cells because the surface glycoproteins help with recognition as well as the attachments of the virosomes to their target cells. In the case of the influenza virosome, the glycoproteins are antigen, haemagglutinin, and neuraminidase. Antigens are molecules that triggers an immune response when targeted by a specific antibody that corresponds to the shape of the antigen. Haemagglutinin is a viral glycoprotein that causes red blood cell agglutination. Neuraminidase are enzymes that break glycosidic linkages. The size and surface molecules presented on of the virosome can be modified so that it can target different types of cells.
Discovered by embedding cosine similarity (sentence-transformers MiniLM, 384-dim).