To be more specific, this is the F0F1 Mitochondrial ATP Synthase. This protein is the reason that I decided to study biochemistry, but I have to say that this animation doesn't nearly do it justice. For one thing, the entire rotor/stator mechanism of the F0 unit is woefully glossed over. The rotor itself is composed of a number of alpha-helices that have a single location for a motile hydrogen to attach. In doing so, it causes a rotation of the lower half of the helix, generating a mechanical motion that turns the rotor.

In fact, probably the most amazing aspect of this protein is that it is, in every sense of the term, a nano-machine. ATP is generated not by chemical reaction, but rather by mechanical force. The 3 active sites in the F1 unit have residues which hold the ADP and Pi in a favorable arrangement, but it is the spring action, triggered by the crankshaft, that causes a vice-like movement that literally squeezes the two together to form ATP.

Very cool...if you ask me.

The video is part of a series.

http://www.mrc-mbu.cam.ac.uk/category/slideshows/atpmovies

The second one illustrates your description.

I have a residual background in biochemistry from some high school science fair work, and what you described is absolutely amazing to hear! The fact that ATP is made by a "mechanical" force is pretty mind-blowing (although I suppose everything is "chemical" in the end at this scale).

This molecule is an amazing machine, powered by electricity. One thing I didn't realize until recently is how fast real molecules are compared to the animations. The molecular motor in the animation spins in real life at about 40,000 RPM - jet engine fast. The small molecules drifting around are actually moving at about 250 miles per hour. And instead of a few molecules drifting around, there are billions of molecules slamming into it every second.

I wrote a blog post a while back about how fast and crowded things are inside cells, that goes into more detail on this very protein: http://www.arcfn.com/2011/07/cells-are-very-fast-and-crowded...

Hi kens, This is actually not powered by electricity but by the gradient of hydrogen ions between the inside and outside of the mitochondrial matrix... As jballanc says, and you say, this is awesomely cool though. I use this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOSyGTYCRFw to teach my future medical students the function of the ATPase - jballanc, I agree the mechanical aspect of ATP synthesis is awesome.

Very cool. It seems fortunate that all these biological processes happen on a timescale comparable to the timescales of other processes around us - we're able to sense and think and respond about as fast as we would fall a couple of feet, so that we can land on our feet, for instance.

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing. Reminded me of this: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/david_bolinsky_animates_a_c...

If you think this is cool, you'd love the flagella motor complex. Especially the assembly process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey7Emmddf7Y

Direct link to the video:

http://www.mrc-mbu.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/movies/rota...

Beware: needs QuickTime.