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Processes & Mechanisms: 57 3D models

Uptake, endosomal escape, drug release, RNAi, CRISPR, immune and disease mechanisms (real sizes any). Each one is a ready-made 3D model you can turn, recolour and place in a figure — open BioDioRama and type its name in the Library search.

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Cellular uptake · Inside the cell · Delivery in the body · Drug release · Gene silencing & editing · Immune & targeted therapy · Physiology · Nanoparticle formation · Drug delivery devices · Assays & diagnostics · Lab processes (micro view) · Single-cell & spatial omics

Cellular uptake 4

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis — A targeted nanoparticle binds receptors, a clathrin-coated pit forms and dynamin pinches off a vesicle. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Caveolae-mediated uptake — Small particles enter through flask-shaped caveolae coated with caveolin. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Macropinocytosis — Membrane ruffles fold over and gulp extracellular fluid and particles into a macropinosome. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Phagocytosis — A macrophage wraps pseudopods around an opsonised bacterium or particle and swallows it. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.

Inside the cell 3

Endosomal escape (proton sponge) — Proton pumps acidify the endosome; buffering polymers pull in ions and water until it bursts and frees the cargo. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Endosomal escape (LNP fusion) — In the acidic endosome ionizable lipids turn positive, the LNP fuses with the membrane and mRNA spills into the cytosol. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Intracellular trafficking — A nanoparticle travels along microtubules from early endosome to late endosome to lysosome as the pH drops. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.

Delivery in the body 7

EPR effect (passive tumour targeting) — Leaky tumour vessels let nanoparticles escape into the tumour, and poor lymphatic drainage keeps them there. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Nanoparticles in a normal vessel — Tight endothelium keeps nanoparticles inside healthy vessels. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Magnetic targeting — An external magnet pulls magnetic nanoparticles out of the blood flow into the target tissue. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Crossing the blood–brain barrier — A transferrin-receptor-targeted nanoparticle is carried across brain endothelium by transcytosis. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Active targeting — Ligand-coated nanoparticles find and bind over-expressed receptors on a cancer cell. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Protein corona formation — In blood, proteins quickly coat a nanoparticle: a tight hard corona and a dynamic soft corona. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Renal clearance — Particles smaller than ~6 nm pass the glomerular filter into urine; larger ones stay in the blood. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.

Drug release 11

Drug release by diffusion — Drug diffuses out of a polymer matrix, fast at first then slowing (first-order release). Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Burst release — Surface-bound drug escapes in an initial burst, then the rest releases slowly. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Surface erosion — The particle wears away from the outside in, releasing drug at a steady rate (polyanhydrides). Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Bulk erosion — Water enters everywhere and the polymer degrades throughout (PLGA), opening pores before it crumbles. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Swelling-controlled release — A dry hydrogel takes up water and swells, letting drug diffuse out. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
pH-triggered release — In the acidic tumour or endosome, acid-labile bonds break and the carrier falls apart. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Redox (glutathione) triggered release — High glutathione inside cells cuts disulfide crosslinks and the shell comes apart. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Enzyme-triggered release — Tumour enzymes (MMPs) cut peptide linkers in the shell, unlocking the drug. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Light-triggered release (photothermal) — Near-infrared light heats gold nanoshells, which melt their surroundings and release drug. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Ultrasound-triggered release — Focused ultrasound makes microbubbles oscillate and burst, releasing drug and opening tissue. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Magnetic hyperthermia — An alternating magnetic field heats magnetic nanoparticles inside the tumour. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.

Gene silencing & editing 3

RNA interference (siRNA) — RISC discards the passenger strand, uses the guide to find its mRNA and cuts it — no protein is made. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
mRNA vaccine mechanism — An mRNA LNP enters a cell; ribosomes make spike protein, which is displayed to the immune system. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
CRISPR gene editing — Cas9 enters the nucleus, finds its target, makes a double-strand break and the cell repairs it. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.

Immune & targeted therapy 6

Antibody–drug conjugate mechanism — The ADC binds its antigen, is internalised, lysosomes free the payload, and microtubules collapse. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
CAR-T cell killing — A CAR-T cell recognises its antigen, forms a synapse and fires perforin and granzymes; the tumour cell dies. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Antibody neutralisation — Antibodies coat the virus spikes so it can no longer bind its receptor. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Antigen presentation — A dendritic cell shows peptide–MHC to a T cell, which activates and releases cytokines. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Leukocyte extravasation — A neutrophil rolls on selectins, arrests on integrins and squeezes through the endothelium. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Photodynamic therapy — Light activates a photosensitiser that makes reactive oxygen species and kills the cell. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.

Physiology 7

Blood clotting — Platelets stick to exposed collagen, activate and aggregate, and a fibrin mesh traps red cells. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Apoptosis — The cell shrinks, blebs, fragments its nucleus and breaks into apoptotic bodies. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Muscle contraction (sarcomere) — Myosin heads pull actin filaments inward and the sarcomere shortens. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Synaptic transmission — Calcium triggers vesicles to fuse and release neurotransmitter onto receptors. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Action potential — Sodium channels open in a wave travelling down the axon. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Protein folding — An unfolded chain collapses and folds into its native shape. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Exosome release — A multivesicular body fuses with the plasma membrane and releases its intraluminal vesicles as exosomes. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.

Nanoparticle formation 3

Micelle self-assembly — Scattered amphiphiles gather with tails inward to form a micelle. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
LNP self-assembly with mRNA — Lipids wrap around mRNA as ethanol is diluted. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
LNP formulation by microfluidic mixing — Lipids in ethanol meet mRNA in buffer in a microfluidic mixer and LNPs form within milliseconds. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.

Drug delivery devices 2

Microneedle insertion & dissolution — A dissolving microneedle patch pierces the stratum corneum and its tips melt, releasing drug in the skin. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Hydrogel swelling — A dry hydrogel absorbs water, swells and releases drug. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.

Assays & diagnostics 3

Sandwich ELISA — Capture antibody, antigen, detection antibody and enzyme build up, then the substrate changes colour. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
Lateral flow test — Sample flows along the strip carrying gold-nanoparticle conjugates that light up the test and control lines. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.
PCR cycle — Denaturation, primer annealing and extension by Taq polymerase — one cycle doubles the DNA. Animate "Progress" from 0 to 1 to play it.

Lab processes (micro view) 7

Nanoprecipitation (inside the beaker) — A drop of polymer and drug in acetone meets stirred water: chains collapse into drug-loaded nanoparticles as the solvent diffuses away.
Thin-film hydration — A dried lipid film swells in buffer, the bilayers lift and peel off as multilamellar vesicles.
Ionic gelation of alginate beads — Alginate droplets fall into calcium chloride; Ca²⁺ diffuses in and gels each bead from the outside in.
Photocrosslinking of GelMA — Light splits the photoinitiator into radicals that join methacryloyl groups into a covalent hydrogel network.
Centrifugal sedimentation — Particles in a spinning tube settle by size and density, forming a pellet under a clearing supernatant.
DNA sieving in an agarose gel — In the electric field DNA snakes through the agarose mesh towards +; shorter fragments move faster.
Size-exclusion chromatography (how it separates) — Inside a size-exclusion column: large extracellular vesicles cannot enter the porous beads and flow quickly between them, while small proteins wander into the pores (one bead is cut open) and elute later. (beads ≈ 1–2 µm shown)

Single-cell & spatial omics 1

Droplet barcoding of single cells (GEMs) — Barcoded gel beads and cells meet partitioning oil at a microfluidic junction and leave as droplets (GEMs), most holding one bead and one cell. Close-up: every strand on a bead carries an adapter, the same cell barcode, a unique UMI and a poly(dT) tail that captures mRNA. (channels ≈ 60 µm; beads ≈ 50 µm)