What are Virus-like particles (VLPs)?

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About Virus-like Particles (VLPs):

VLPs are molecules that resemble viruses but lack infectivity because of the absence of viral genetic material.
They are a very effective way of creating vaccines against diseases such as human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B, malaria, and more.
As they are very similar to real viral molecules, introducing a VLP into the body will trigger an immune response, but a person will not experience any symptoms of the virus they are being vaccinated against.
Once the body has had an immune response to the VLP, it will recognize the virus and prevent infection in the future, giving people immunity to that particular virus.
Structure:
- VLPs are very small, with a particle radius of approximately 20 to 200 nm. This means that they can easily enter the lymph nodes, where the immune system is activated in the case of an infection.
- A VLP consists of one or more structural proteins that can be arranged in multiple layers.
- They can also contain an outer lipid envelope, which is the outermost layer that covers a large number of different viruses. This outer layer protects the genetic material inside the virus particle.
Creating a VLPvaccinecan use bacterial, yeast, insect, or mammalian cells.
When used as a vaccine, VLPs cause a robust immunogenic response due to their high-density display of epitopes and the capacity to present multiple proteins to the immune system.
Most recently, VLPs have been employed as nanomachines to deliver pharmaceutically active products to specific sites and into specific cells in the body.

Key Facts about Nipah Virus:

Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic virus (it is transmitted from animals to humans) and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people.
In infected people, it causes a range of illnesses, from asymptomatic (subclinical) infection to acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis.
The virus can also cause severe disease in animals, such as pigs, resulting in significant economic losses for farmers.
It first broke out in Malaysia and Singapore in 1998 and 1999.
Treatment:
- There are currently no drugs or vaccines specific for Nipah virus infection.
- Intensive supportive careis recommended to treat severe respiratory and neurologic complications.

Q1: What is a Virus?

A virus is an infectious microbe consisting of a segment of nucleic acid (either DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein coat. A virus cannot replicate alone; instead, it must infect cells and use components of the host cell to make copies of itself. Often, a virus ends up killing the host cell in the process, causing damage to the host organism. Well-known examples of viruses causing human disease include AIDS, COVID-19, measles and smallpox.

Source: New method to generate virus-like particles, to help with developing antibodies against Nipah