Rosenthal fiber

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Rosenthal fibers.
H&E staining showing these elongated eosinophilic structures in a case of pilocytic astrocytoma. (Magnification 400x) Rosenthal HE 40x.jpg
Rosenthal fibers.
H&E staining showing these elongated eosinophilic structures in a case of pilocytic astrocytoma. (Magnification 400x)

Rosenthal fibers are brightly eosinophilic, corkscrew-shaped astrocytic inclusions composed primarily of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) with small heat-shock proteins.

Contents

Associated conditions

Rosenthal fibers are found on staining of brain tissue in the presence of long-standing reactive gliosis (e.g., old infarcts, multiple sclerosis, trauma), some tumors (e.g., pilocytic astrocytoma) [1] , and rarely in lysosomal storage diseases such as fucosidosis [2] . They are pathognomonic for Alexander disease. [3]

Rosenthal fibers can also be seen in craniopharyngioma. [4]

Composition

The fibers are found in astrocytic processes and are thought to be clumped intermediate filament proteins, primarily glial fibrillary acidic protein. [5] Other reported constituents include alphaB crystallin, heat shock protein 27, ubiquitin, vimentin, plectin, c-Jun, the 20 S proteasome, and synemin. [6]

References

  1. Stone, Thomas J.; Merve, Ashirwad; Valerio, Fernanda; Yasin, Shireena A.; Jacques, Thomas S. (October 2024). "Paediatric low-grade glioma: the role of classical pathology in integrated diagnostic practice". Child's Nervous System: CHNS: Official Journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery. 40 (10): 3189–3207. doi:10.1007/s00381-024-06591-6. ISSN   1433-0350. PMC   11511714 . PMID   39294363.
  2. Mateos, Marion K.; Birdi, Nikhil; Basu, Anna P.; Wright, Michael; Joshi, Abhijit; Annavarapu, Srinivas; Jacques, Thomas S.; Mitra, Dipayan; Bailey, Simon (July 2022). "Developmental delay and progressive seizures in 2-month-old child with diffuse MRI abnormalities". Brain Pathology (Zurich, Switzerland). 32 (4): e13049. doi:10.1111/bpa.13049. ISSN   1750-3639. PMC   9234477 . PMID   35040226.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  3. Sosunov, Alexander A.; McKhann, Guy M.; Goldman, James E. (March 31, 2017). "The origin of Rosenthal fibers and their contributions to astrocyte pathology in Alexander disease". Acta Neuropathologica Communications. 5 (1): 27. doi: 10.1186/s40478-017-0425-9 . ISSN   2051-5960. PMC   5374671 . PMID   28359321.
  4. Karsonovich, Torin; Shafiq, Ismat; Mesfin, Fassil B. (2025), "Craniopharyngioma", StatPearls, Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID   30085569 , retrieved October 3, 2025
  5. Tanaka KF, Ochi N, Hayashi T, Ikeda E, Ikenaka K (October 2006). "Fluoro-Jade: new fluorescent marker of Rosenthal fibers". Neurosci. Lett. 407 (2): 127–30. doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2006.08.014. PMID   16949206.
  6. Heaven, MR; Flint, D; Randall, SM; et al. (July 1, 2016). "Composition of Rosenthal Fibers, the Protein Aggregate Hallmark of Alexander Disease". Journal of Proteome Research. 15 (7): 2265–82. doi:10.1021/acs.jproteome.6b00316. PMC   5036859 . PMID   27193225.