Hirano body filaments contain actin and actin-associated proteins

Hirano bodies are eosinophilic, rod-shaped intraneuronal inclusions whose frequency increases with age and with Alzheimer's disease. To investigate their composition and possible relationship to the neuronal cytoskeleton, we employed immunocytochemistry and immunoelectronmicroscopy by using antisera to cytoskeletal proteins. The presence of actin, alpha-actinin, vinculin and tropomyosin was demonstrated diffusely throughout the Hirano body. The presence of these proteins supports the contention that Hirano bodies are derived from an abnormal organization of the neuronal cytoskeleton. The staining of Hirano bodies with fluorescent labelled phalloidin, a probe with a unique affinity for F-actin, indicates that the actin in Hirano bodies is in the F-state. Results of high voltage electron microscopy on 1.0 and 0.5 micron sections confirm the purely filamentous nature of Hirano bodies. These findings suggest that the mechanism of formation of Hirano bodies is different from that of the neurofibrillary tangle, another characteristic intraneuronal inclusion seen in Alzheimer patients.