Animation example
Phagocytosis 3D animation
A white blood cell wraps around a bacterium and swallows it, then turns transparent to reveal the sealed vesicle inside. A 10-second film made in Animiotics.
What the animation shows
Phagocytosis is how immune cells such as neutrophils and macrophages eat invaders. Receptors on the cell surface recognize the bacterium, often helped by antibodies or complement proteins coating it, which act as handles.
The cell then pushes out arms of membrane, driven by its actin skeleton, that flow around the bacterium until they meet and seal it inside a vesicle called a phagosome. The phagosome fuses with lysosomes, and enzymes and reactive oxygen species destroy the bacterium.
What is illustrative
Colors and timing are illustrative. The transparency effect is a visual device to show the vesicle inside the cell, not something you would see under a microscope.
Make your own version
Open this film as a starter and customize it, or describe a new animation. A few variations to try:
- Show a macrophage recognizing an antibody-coated bacterium through Fc receptors, engulfing it and fusing the phagosome with lysosomes.
- Show a neutrophil squeezing out of a blood vessel and chasing a bacterium before engulfing it.
Questions
Which white blood cells perform phagocytosis?
Mainly neutrophils, macrophages and dendritic cells. Macrophages and dendritic cells also present pieces of what they eat to other immune cells.
Can I use this in a lecture?
Yes. Open the starter in the app to adapt it, then render an MP4 or share an interactive link with your students.
Keep reading
Describe it. Watch it move.
Start your first animation from a description, a structure or a photo.