Fig. 9
From: The origin of Rosenthal fibers and their contributions to astrocyte pathology in Alexander disease
Schematic presentation of RF formation and growth. a RFs begin to form as small aggregates of GFAP oligomers with alphaB-crystallin on intermediate filaments. Subsequent accumulation of oligomers with/or without alphaB- crystallin and possibly other components of RFs causes enlargement of RFs. The growth of RFs may proceed with variable speed, generating RFs of different sizes. This type of RF growth is predominant and gives rise to oval RFs. It was observed in every line of AxD mice. b Elongated RFs are more typical for KI mice are formed in areas with a relative paucity of intermediate filaments. Aggregation of GFAP oligomers and additional proteins (as in A) occurs along the length of filaments. c Some large RFs may be formed by a ‘fusion’ of neighboring RFs of moderate size (Green). GFAP filaments linking RFs may prevent RF fusion and preserve RFs as isolated units (Red)