Differential expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in the retinae and visual cortices of rats with experimental renal hypertension.
To examine the expression of the GFAP protein in the retina and visual cortex under normal and pathological conditions, hypertension was induced in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats by applying silver clips onto renal arteries and the change in GFAP expression was followed by Western blotting and immunocytochemical staining. One week after operation when the induced hypertension was at the initial stage, GFAP expression in the retina was reduced to half of the sham control. By 4 weeks, when consistent hypertension was developed, a further decrease in the level of GFAP expression in the retina to one third of the sham control was observed. Immunocytochemical staining showed that the number of GFAP-positive cells in the nerve fiber layer of the retina of the hypertensive rat was reduced to less than one third of the sham control. However, similar changes in GFAP expression in the visual cortex of hypertensive rats were not observed. This study represents the first report to date on GFAP expression in the retina and visual cortex and includes discussion of the possible mechanisms through which GFAP expression is mediated.
Lam
T K
TK
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong.
Chan
W Y
WY
Kuang
G B
GB
Wei
H
H
Shum
A S
AS
Yew
D T
DT
D000818:Animals; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D006977:Hypertension, Renal / Q000378:metabolism*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*
D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein