Rosenthal fiber
Encyclopedia
A Rosenthal fiber is a thick, elongated, worm-like or "corkscrew" eosinophilic (pink) bundle that is found on H&E stain
ing of the brain in the presence of long standing gliosis
, occasional tumors, and some metabolic disorders.
(more common) or Alexander's disease (a rare leukodystrophy
). They are also seen in the context of fucosidosis
.
proteins.
Their components include glial fibrillary acidic protein
.
H&E stain
H&E stain, HE stain or hematoxylin and eosin stain is a popular staining method in histology. It is the most widely used stain in medical diagnosis; for example when a pathologist looks at a biopsy of a suspected cancer, the histological section is likely to be stained with H&E and termed H&E...
ing of the brain in the presence of long standing gliosis
Gliosis
Gliosis is a proliferation of astrocytes in damaged areas of the central nervous system . This proliferation usually leads to the formation of a glial scar....
, occasional tumors, and some metabolic disorders.
Associated conditions
Its presence is associated with either pilocytic astrocytomaPilocytic astrocytoma
Pilocytic astrocytoma or juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma or cystic cerebellar astrocytoma is a neoplasm of the brain that occurs more often in children and young adults...
(more common) or Alexander's disease (a rare leukodystrophy
Leukodystrophy
Leukodystrophy refers to a group of disorders characterized by dysfunction of the white matter of the brain. The leukodystrophies are caused by imperfect growth or development of the myelin sheath, the fatty covering that acts as an insulator around nerve fibers...
). They are also seen in the context of fucosidosis
Fucosidosis
Fucosidosis, also called alpha-l-fucosidase deficiency, is a rare autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease in which the enzyme fucosidase is not properly used in the cells to break down fucose. This enzyme normally cleaves long sugar chains known as oligosaccharides in the lysosome...
.
Composition
The fibers are found in astrocytic processes and are thought to be clumped intermediate filamentIntermediate filament
Intermediate filaments are a family of related proteins that share common structural and sequence features. Intermediate filaments have an average diameter of 10 nanometers, which is between that of 7 nm actin , and that of 25 nm microtubules, although they were initially designated...
proteins.
Their components include glial fibrillary acidic protein
Glial fibrillary acidic protein
Glial fibrillary acidic protein is an intermediate filament protein that was thought to be specific for astrocytes in the central nervous system . Later, it was shown that GFAP is also expressed by other cell types in CNS, including ependymal cells...
.