Vesikkeleina

Vesikkeleina is a Finnish term used in descriptive biology to refer to vesicle-like structures: small, membrane-bound compartments that transport, store, or secrete substances within cells or in extracellular contexts. The term derives from vesikkeli (vesicle) and the inflection -eina, used in Finnish to describe forms or instances.

In cells, vesikkeleina form by budding from existing membranes such as the plasma membrane, endoplasmic reticulum, or Golgi apparatus. They range in size from tens to hundreds of nanometers. Their membranes house lipids and proteins including transport machinery, such as motor adaptors, tethering factors, and SNAREs.

Functions include intracellular transport of proteins and lipids, uptake of extracellular material (endocytosis), trafficking between organelles, and controlled secretion of signaling molecules or enzymes. The specific identity and cargo of vesikkeleina depend on their origin and coat proteins, such as clathrin or caveolin in specialized pathways, though the term vesikkeleina itself is generally non-specific.

In research and Finnish-language texts, vesikkeleina are used as a descriptive umbrella for vesicles that share general characteristics without naming a particular vesicle type. They are important in physiology, pathology (for example in neurotransmitter release and immune cell function), and applied fields such as nanomedicine, where synthetic vesicles like liposomes are modeled on natural vesikkeleina.

See also: vesicle, exocytosis, endocytosis, endosome, lysosome, liposome.