Vimentin is a protein subunit of 10nm or intermediate filaments, which are major components of the cytoskeleton in most cell types. Vimentin is the major intemediate filament subunit found in mesenchymal cells, and was first named and characterized in a collaborative study from the labs of German scientists Werner Franke and Klaus Weber (1). The name derives from the Latin "Vimentum", meaning arrays of flexible rods such as in lattices, filigrees and wicker-work, which describes the intermediate filament network quite well. Vimentin is also found in many cell types in tissue culture, most notably fibroblasts, and in developing neuronal and astrocytic precursor cells in the central nervous system. Many cell lines such as Hek293, HeLa, 3T3 and Cos cells contain prominent vimentin networks. Vimentin frequently forms copolymers with other intermediate filament proteins, such as GFAP (in astrocytes, ependymal cells and neural stem cells), with desmin (in muscle and endothelial cells) and neurofilament proteins (in developing neurons). A E151K point mutation in the vimentin gene was shown to be causative of an autosomal dominant pulverulent cataract disease, but so far only in a single patient (2). Vimentin is a major protein of eye lens and cornea, and this mutation renders the molecule unable assemble into normal 10nm filaments. Antibodies to vimentin are useful in studies of stem cells and generally to reveal the filamentous cytoskeleton. The HGNC name for this protein is VIM.