Animation example
Kinesin motor protein 3D animation
A kinesin motor carries a vesicle along a microtubule while more motors walk through the cell behind it. A 20-second film made in Animiotics from one description.
What the animation shows
Kinesin-1 is a motor protein that carries cargo such as vesicles and organelles along microtubules, the protein tracks that run through the cell. It moves toward the microtubule's plus end, which in a neuron means from the cell body out along the axon.
The motor has two heads that take turns binding the track, a hand-over-hand walk. Each step covers about 8 nanometers and uses the energy of one ATP molecule. A single kinesin can take hundreds of steps before it lets go, which is why it is called processive. Its partner motor, dynein, carries cargo in the opposite direction.
When this transport fails, cells that depend on long-distance delivery suffer first. Mutations in kinesin genes are linked to inherited neurological conditions such as some forms of hereditary spastic paraplegia.
What is illustrative
The film is slowed down so each step can be followed; real kinesin takes many steps every second. Molecular geometry, colors and the crowd of motors are illustrative, not measured.
Make your own version
Open this film as a starter and customize it, or describe a new animation. A few variations to try:
- Show kinesin and dynein carrying cargo in opposite directions along the same microtubule in an axon.
- Zoom in on one kinesin step: ATP binds, the neck linker swings and the rear head moves forward.
- Show what happens to axonal transport when the microtubule track is broken.
Questions
How fast does kinesin move?
Kinesin-1 moves at roughly 0.8 micrometers per second in laboratory measurements, taking 8-nanometer steps. The film is slowed down so the steps can be seen.
Can I change the colors or the cargo?
Yes. Open the kinesin starter in the app and change the cargo, colors, camera or timing, or describe a new version.
Keep reading
Describe it. Watch it move.
Start your first animation from a description, a structure or a photo.