First is the molecular hinge needed for the two conformations the molecular device has. The cyclohexane ring is proposed for this. The carbon backbones of the bulb and tweezer parts are attached to this ring and the binding to an HIV by the tweezer arms will cause a change in conformation to the form that will elicit a complement response. The tweezer arms are the second major part of the structure. This bonding will attach the HIV to the nanobody and cause the cyclohexane ring to change conformation to the opposite chair conformation.
All axial bonds switch to equatorial bonds and all equatorial swing to axial bonds.
This orientation change can be used to cause the opening of the bulb part of the device. The bulb part will be mechanically similar to the workings of a flower's petals. This will expose the fourth part of the device. The protein fragment is contained inside the bulb part. It is of the class of proteins that cause the 3b cascade and research is needed to determine the best protein to use.