Glial fibrillary acidic protein and differentiation of neonatal rat pituicytes in vitro.
The appearance and intracellular localisation of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in pituicytes in neural lobe cultures of newborn rats aged 7 to 30 days were investigated by use of the indirect immunofluorescence method. GFAP-immunoreactive cells were observed mostly in the outgrowth zone. GFAP was localised in the perikaryal cytoplasm as well as in pituicyte processes. GFAP-positive pituicytes showed considerable morphological polymorphism. The presence of GFAP - astrocytic marker - in pituicytes in vitro and the evident morphological similarity to cultured astrocytes suggest the astroglial character of these cells.
D000818:Animals; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D010904:Pituitary Gland, Posterior / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013997:Time Factors
D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein