Glial fibrillary acidic protein and vimentin expression in the frog olfactory system during metamorphosis

Abstract

In the present study, we investigated glial cell organization in the olfactory system of adult and tadpole Xenopus laevis using glial fibrillary acidic protein and vimentin antibodies. Our results showed for the first time that glial fibrillary acidic protein was strongly expressed at the level of the olfactory nerve from tadpole to adult and was likely to be expressed by ensheathing glia. In the olfactory bulb, the nerve layer was stained, and no staining was observed in glomeruli. By contrast, vimentin decorated radial glia in the bulb but faintly stained the olfactory nerve. Interestingly, glial fibrillary acidic protein and vimentin presented complementary staining patterns, with glial fibrillary acidic protein being expressed in the peripheral olfactory system and vimentin being expressed in the central part of the olfactory system.

Immunocytochemical characterization of olfactory ensheathing cells in fish

“…GFAP antibodies do not stain ensheathing glia in the embryo and expression of GFAP antigen starts after birth (Barber and Dahl 1987;Ramon-Cueto and Avila 1998). In accordance with Huang et al (2005) in Xenopus, our results in fish suggest that GFAP positive cells are present in the olfactory nerve and in the olfactory nerve layer of the olfactory bulb, but are almost absent in deeper layers of the olfactory bulb, especially the glomerular layer. The olfactory pathways of both fish species show clear immunostaining for GFAP, but the epithelial lamina propria, the extracranial olfactory nerve and the olfactory nerve layer are less labelled in Poecilia than in Carassius.…”

“…On the other hand, very little is known about the characteristics of OECs in non-mammalian vertebrates (Huang et al 2005). Fish have a well-developed olfactory system with regard both to anatomy and function (Franceschini et al 1994(Franceschini et al , 1999(Franceschini et al , 2000Lazzari et al 2007;Bettini et al 2009).…”

Developmental, tract-tracing and immunohistochemical study of the peripheral olfactory system in a basal vertebrate: insights on Pax6 neurons migrating along the olfactory nerve

“…As indicated above, the migratory mass in mammals include OECs that can be readily identified as they express GFAP and wrap bundles of axons (Barber and Lindsay 1982; Smithson and Kawaja 2009; Pellitteri et al 2010; Forni et al 2011; Higginson and Barnett 2011). In Xenopus , GFAP immunoreactivity, likely expressed by ensheathing glia, has been described along the olfactory nerve from tadpoles to adults (Huang et al 2005) although the relation between these cells and the olfactory nerve was not cleared by the authors. In teleosts, some markers for mammalian olfactory ensheathing cells also stain the olfactory pathway (Lazzari et al 2012), but whether a glial ensheathing structure is present in the olfactory nerve of bony fishes is not well known.…”

Pituicytoma: Report of two cases

“…GFAP is a 54 kDa, type III intermediate filament protein that is the major constituent of glial filaments in astrocytes (19). GFAP is considered to be a general marker for astrocytes in the central nervous system (20). The accurate diagnosis of brain invasion is therefore critical and, in borderline cases, an immunohistochemical stain for GFAP aids in the delineation of entrapped glial elements within the substance of a brain-invasive meningioma (21).…”