Biomarkers of glial cell proliferation and differentiation in culture

Abstract

The two major intermediate filament (IF) proteins of astrocytes are vimentin and GFAP. Early during development, radial glia and immature astrocytes express mainly vimentin. Towards the end of gestation, a switch occurs whereby vimentin is progressively replaced by GFAP in differentiated astroglial cells. The expression of vimentin and GFAP increased markedly after injury to CNS. GFAP has been widely recognized as an astrocyte differentiation marker, constituting the major IF protein of mature astrocyte. In our recent researches we investigated the interactions between growth factors and dexamethasone on cytoskeletal proteins GFAP and vimentin expression under different experimental conditions. In addition, nestin, a currently used marker of neural stem cells, is transiently co-expressed with GFAP during development and is induced in reactive astrocytes following brain injury. The role of S100B in astrocytes, neurons, and microglia is particularly studied in Alzheimer's disease. In conclusion, such glial biomarkers will help us to understand the more general mechanisms involved in CNS development and can open new perspectives for the control of the neurologic diseases.

NDRG2 as a marker protein for brain astrocytes

“…Serious insults such as trauma, ischemia, or autoimmune inflammation induce proliferation of astrocytes and other cells, which leads to formation of the glial scar (Sofroniew 2009). Expression of the progenitor and radial glial marker vimentin and of GFAP strongly increases after injury to the brain (Bramanti et al 2010; Kim et al 2012). The population of astrocytes in the area of a glial scar is heterogeneous and varies with the distance from the scar.…”

Integrative genetic, epigenetic and pathological analysis of paraganglioma reveals complex dysregulation of NOTCH signaling

“…Immunostaining for NOTCH1 (C-20, that recognizes both full-length NOTCH1 and its cleaved intracellular form, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) and JAG2 (Abnova), both diluted 1/50, was performed after heat-induced antigen retrieval (100 °C in Tris–EDTA, pH 9 for 30 min). To characterize the cellular components of the tumors, step sections were incubated with antibodies against: the neuroendocrine marker synaptophysin, strongly expressed in both sustentacular and chief cells (27G121, Novocastra, diluted 1/200, antigen retrieval at 100 °C in citrate buffer, pH 6 for 30 min) [32]; the neurosecretory granule protein chromogranin A, highly expressed in chief cells (5H7, Novocastra; diluted 1/200, antigen retrieval at 100 °C in citrate buffer, pH 6 for 30 min) [32]; the Ca(2+)-binding protein S100, highly expressed in glial tumors (NCL-L-S100p, Novocastra, diluted 1/200, antigen retrieval by trypsin treatment for 30 min) [32]; the mesenchymal intermediate filament vimentin, expressed in immature glia and in endothelia (V9, Novocastra; diluted 1/300, antigen retrieval at 100 °C in citrate buffer, pH 6 for 30 min) [5, 36]; the major anti-apoptotic mitochondrial protein BCL2 (Bcl2/100/D5, Novocastra, diluted 1/30, antigen retrieval at 100 °C in citrate buffer, pH 6 for 30 min) [65]; and the proliferation marker Ki-67 (MM1, Dako; diluted 1/50, antigen retrieval at 100 °C in Tris–EDTA, pH 9 for 30 min) [32]. …”

Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1-immunoreactive signals in murine enteric glial cells

“…Because GFAP is widely recognized as an astrocyte differentiation marker, constituting the major intermediate filament protein of mature astrocytes[65-67], the present finding suggests that TRPV1 might be involved in the differentiation/maturation of EGC. The ENS originates in the neural crest, which invades, proliferates and migrates within the intestinal wall until the entire bowel is colonized with enteric neural crest-derived cells (ENCDCs)[68].…”