Animation example
Virus entry by endocytosis, in 3D
A virus particle attaches to a cell, the membrane folds inward around it and a vesicle pinches off into the cell. A 9-second film made in Animiotics from one description.
What the animation shows
Many viruses get into cells by tricking them into eating them. The virus binds receptors on the cell surface, the membrane curves inward around it, often in a pit coated with the protein clathrin, and the protein dynamin helps pinch the pit off as a vesicle inside the cell.
The vesicle becomes an endosome. As the endosome turns acidic, many viruses use the change to fuse with its membrane or break out of it, releasing their genetic material into the cell. Influenza is a classic example.
What is illustrative
This is a conceptual endocytosis example; structures and timing are not to scale. The film's final moment compresses later steps: in a real infection the viral genome leaves the endosome before new virus particles are made elsewhere in the cell.
Make your own version
Open this film as a starter and customize it, or describe a new animation. A few variations to try:
- Show influenza binding sialic acid receptors, entering by endocytosis and fusing with the endosome membrane as it acidifies.
- Show SARS-CoV-2 spike binding ACE2 and the two routes of entry, at the cell surface and through endosomes.
- Show clathrin-coated pit formation step by step with dynamin pinching off the vesicle.
Questions
Can I show a specific virus?
Yes. Name the virus and its receptor in your description. Where experimental structures exist, the generator downloads them from the Protein Data Bank.
Can I fix a step that is not accurate?
Yes. Ask for the change in a follow-up prompt or edit the scene directly. Everything in the film stays editable.
Keep reading
Describe it. Watch it move.
Start your first animation from a description, a structure or a photo.