∞ generated and posted on 2016.08.26 ∞
Means of transporting substances into cells that does not directly involve substances crossing lipid bilayers.
Following endocytosis, taken-up substances are found within vesicles that are suspended within a cell's cytoplasm. There they can be digested and then absorbed across the vesicle membrane.
There are three basic types of endocytosis, which are known as phagocytosis, pinocytosis, and receptor-mediated endocytosis. These different types involve the engulfing of foreign materials, the engulfing of liquid, and the engulfing materials that have been "packaged" precisely for the sake of such engulfment, respectively.
Certain viruses – which are acellular parasites of cells – also mediate their uptake into cells via endocytotic mechanisms.
The following video presents a very brief, somewhat low resolution, cartoon animation of endocytosis: