Glial fibrillary acidic protein: regulation by hormones, cytokines, and growth factors.
Levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), an astrocyte-specific intermediate filament protein, are altered during development and aging, GFAP also responds dynamically to neurodegenerative lesions. Changes in GFAP expression can occur at both transcriptional and translational levels. Modulators of GFAP expression include steroids, cytokines, and growth factors. GFAP expression also shows brain region-specific responses to sex steroids and of astrocyte-neuronal interactions. The 5'-upstream sequences of rat, mouse, and human are compared for the presence of response elements that are candidates for transcriptional regulation of GFAP. We propose that the regulation of the GFAP gene has evolved a system of controls that allow integrated responses to neuroendocrine and inflammatory modulators.
Neurogerontology Division, Andrus Gerontology Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 90089-0191.
N J
NJ
Laping
B
B
Teter
N R
NR
Nichols
I
I
Rozovsky
C E
CE
Finch
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000378:metabolism; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D016207:Cytokines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006728:Hormones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051381:Rats; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects
D016207:Cytokines; D006133:Growth Substances; D006728:Hormones