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If you find a protein that blocks the virus, how difficult would it be to find a drug delivery mechanism that is capable of reaching all the important cells?


Isn't blood pretty good at this?


I'm not a biologist but I suppose that not every kind of protein enters any kind of cell.


You need these proteins to interfere with viruses before they enter cells, so that part is probably fine.


Where the virus can go the antiviral can go too (because it's much smaller, only targeting a smaller protein spike on the surface of the viral envelope).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus#/media/File:3D_med... [the N protein is supposedly the nucleocapsid, which is basically/maybe another envelope around the RNA]


Only if you want to deliver indiscriminantly


A lozenge? A nose spray?


yes that is workable but a nebulizer is what is currently being proposed.


Typically such a protein would be delivered via infusion (IV), I believe.


the main trophic target of this virus is lung tissue. a nebulizer would deliver the mRNA-Fc complex to the lung tissue.

the other way around would look a lot like a classic vaccine delivered by injection, and encapsulate the mRNA into a vesicle that targets antigen presenting cells in the lymphatic system which then presents the mRNA product as an antigen-MHC complex to specify what antibody to generate.


Deliver mRNA, or a protein?


both or either dependent on the therapeutic strategy.

this is also something that is not limited to corona virus, this is the basis of a recombinant vaccine that can be adjusted for any antigen.


Cool. I was thinking about immunotherapy like IL proteins.. sometimes they are injected and sometimes infused, I don't know why.


it depends on the targets distribution, is it diffuse in the body or is it localized to a certain tissue type.




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