Animation example
Sandwich ELISA 3D animation
A pipette fills a 96-well plate, then the camera dives into one well to watch antibodies catch a protein and an enzyme turn the well blue. A 40-second film you can open in Animiotics as a sample scene.
What the animation shows
An ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) measures how much of one protein is in a sample. In the sandwich format, the bottom of each well is coated with a capture antibody that holds on to the target protein, here the signaling protein IL-6, while everything else is washed away.
A second, detection antibody binds a different site on the same protein, completing the sandwich. It carries an enzyme, horseradish peroxidase, which turns a colorless substrate into a colored product. The more target protein a well holds, the more enzyme it keeps and the stronger the color, which a plate reader measures.
What it is built from
The antibodies come from PDB 1IGT, a complete IgG, the IL-6 antigen from PDB 1ALU and horseradish peroxidase from PDB 1ATJ. Each is shown as a surface traced from its coordinates. The plate, sample tubes and multichannel pipette are modelled.
What is illustrative
The molecules are not to scale with the plate, the incubations and washes are compressed into seconds, and the color change is simplified to a single blue step.
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 competitive ELISA where free antigen and labeled antigen compete for the capture antibody.
- Compare a direct, an indirect and a sandwich ELISA side by side in three wells.
- Show a lateral flow test strip catching an antigen at the test line.
Questions
Why is it called a sandwich ELISA?
Because the target protein ends up between two antibodies: the capture antibody on the plate and the detection antibody on top.
Can I use this film for teaching or a product page?
Open the ELISA starter in Animiotics, adapt it and render your own version. Rendering and exports need a paid plan; Industry plans include a commercial license.
Keep reading
Describe it. Watch it move.
Start your first animation from a description, a structure or a photo.