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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Mol Neurobiol. 2016 Mar 5;54(3):2255–2268. doi: 10.1007/s12035-016-9792-7

Fig. 1. Components of neuronal cytoskeleton.

Fig. 1

The neuronal cytoskeleton is composed of actin filaments (red), microtubules (MTs; green) and neurofilaments (NFs; purple). The axonal growth cone is comprised of lamellipodia and filopodia, and is highly enriched in actin filaments. Lamellipodia consist of a dense F-actin network, and filopodia contain bundled F-actin, whereas MTs emanate from axons. Axonal microtubules have an unidirectional arrangement with their plus ends facing the axon tip, thus facilitating directional axonal growth, whereas dendritic microtubules have a mixed orientation. NFs are highly enriched in the axons and maintain axonal integrity, caliber and conduction velocity. MTs are approximately three times thicker in diameter compared to NFs, which are three times thicker than actin.