Fig. 7
From: The origin of Rosenthal fibers and their contributions to astrocyte pathology in Alexander disease
Phenotypic alterations in astrocytes with many RFs. a Neocortical CD44+ astrocyte (star) with thickened, short main processes filled with RFs lacking miniature peripheral processes (DAPI stains in (a)” and (a1)’). Note that neighboring astrocyte (asterisk) with many RFs (DAPI stains in (a)” and (a1)’) does not show immunoreactivity for CD44. a1 Single optical slice from enlarged boxed area in (a)”. Animation of Z-stack of optical slices of (a1) see in Additional file 9: Movies 4. 1 month old TG mouse. Double immunostaining for GFAP and CD44. Counterstaining with DAPI. Confocal microscopy. b Large astrocyte in cortical layer I with GFAP+ pseudoinclusions in the nucleus (arrows in (b1)) corresponding to RFs located in deep invaginations of nuclear envelope (inset in (b1)” shows enlarged area of the nucleus marked with asterisks). Note the large size of the nucleus and only few Rosenthal fibers (RFs) (arrows in b1”) in the cell body near nucleus. b1’ Note also that CD44 outlined densely packed miniature distal processes of the astrocyte. b1 enlarged boxed area in (b). KI homozygous 1 year old mouse. Double immunostaining for GFAP and CD44. Counterstaining with DAPI. Confocal microscopy. c Ultrastructure of astrocyte with Rosenthal fibers (RFs) in deep invagination of the nucleus (N). Note irregular shape of the nucleus. KI homozygous 1 year old mice. Scale bars: 60 μm in (a) and (b); 0.6 μm in (c)