Lysosomes: Cleaning Up Dead Organelles & Viruses

  • Thread starter Prashasti
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In summary, lysosomes are organelles responsible for breaking down waste materials and damaged components in the cell. While they can also break down viruses, it is not an efficient way to produce antivirals. Injecting lysosomes into the body could cause damage and they are not well-maintained outside of the cell. However, they are a potential target for therapy. In response to a yes/no question, it is difficult to give a simple answer in biology and it would likely be no. The processes involved in lysosomes breaking down viruses may not be the most effective for producing antivirals.
  • #1
Prashasti
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Lysosomes help to clean up dead organelles and intruders like viruses. So, can't they be used to produce anti virals?
 
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  • #2
Lysosomes are intracellular organelles containing an acidic environment and a variety of enzymes. They're considered the "recycling bins" of the cell in that they break down waste materials and damaged components. In terms of viruses as far as I'm aware they only break down viruses that have entered the cell via endocytosis, most haven't so at best they slow infection:

Inhibition of lysosome and proteasome function enhances human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15827185

If you were to just inject lysosomes you'd probably cause a lot of damage. If they aren't regulated they could uptake all sorts of things you don't necessarily want to and outside the environment of the cell they aren't going to be maintained, they'd probably leak with time releasing damaging factors. They are a target for therapy but for different reasons

The lysosome: from waste bag to potential therapeutic target
http://jmcb.oxfordjournals.org/content/5/4/214.abstract
 
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  • #3
Thank you so much! It really helped. Best answer ever. But if the question is yes/no type, what would you say?
 
  • #4
Prashasti said:
Thank you so much! It really helped. Best answer ever. But if the question is yes/no type, what would you say?
Is this homework?
 
  • #5
No, this isn't. It's my own question. My teacher didn't answer when I asked her. And I didn't find satisfactory answer anywhere else. Neither on internet nor in books.
 
  • #6
Prashasti said:
Thank you so much! It really helped. Best answer ever. But if the question is yes/no type, what would you say?

It's rare anything in biology can be shortened to yes/no and doing so is often unnecessarily restrictive. Having said that I would answer no, the processes by which viruses are broken down would not seem to be a good way to produce antivirals. A potential target may be uptake of viruses by the lysosome but that isn't the same thing.
 

1. What are lysosomes?

Lysosomes are specialized organelles found in the cells of most living organisms. They are responsible for breaking down and recycling unwanted or non-functioning cell components, as well as destroying viruses and bacteria that enter the cell.

2. How do lysosomes clean up dead organelles?

Lysosomes contain hydrolytic enzymes that can break down and digest cellular components such as damaged organelles. These enzymes are activated when the lysosome fuses with the targeted organelle, and the resulting breakdown products can then be used by the cell for energy or building new components.

3. What is the function of lysosomes in the immune system?

Lysosomes play a crucial role in the immune system by destroying harmful viruses and bacteria that enter the cell. They do this by fusing with the invading pathogen and releasing enzymes that break down its outer membrane, rendering it harmless.

4. How do lysosomes protect the cell from toxic substances?

Lysosomes also act as a defense mechanism against toxic substances that may enter the cell. If a harmful substance is detected, the lysosome will fuse with it and use its enzymes to break it down into less harmful components, protecting the rest of the cell from damage.

5. Can lysosomes malfunction?

Yes, lysosomes can malfunction, leading to a variety of diseases known as lysosomal storage disorders. These disorders occur when the enzymes in lysosomes are deficient or missing, causing an accumulation of undigested materials in the cell. Some examples of these disorders include Tay-Sachs disease and Gaucher's disease.

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