fig2

Figure 2. Hierarchical assembly process of NFs. Adapted and modified from Yuan et al. (2017)^[14], with additional graphical modifications and redesign by the authors. © Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. Adapted with permission. The diagram demonstrates the stepwise assembly pathway from monomeric subunits to mature NFs, including the formation of coiled-coil dimers, antiparallel tetramers, ULFs, and the final longitudinal annealing and radial compaction into 10 nm mature filaments. Created with BioGDP.com. NFs: Neurofilaments; ULFs: unit-length filaments; NfM: neurofilament medium chain; NfH: neurofilament heavy chain.