GFAP Antibody – Mouse Monoclonal

Monoclonal

IgG1

Mouse

Human, cow, pig, horse, mouse, rat and all other mammalian and avian species tested to date

Liquid

Affinity purified

100ug/100ul (lot specific)

Store at -20 degree C/1 year

49,880 Da

Chromosome: 17; NC_000017.10 (42982994..42992920, complement). Location: 17q21

137780

ModBase 3D Structure for P14136

Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP) was discovered by Amico Bignami and coworkers as a major fibrous protein of multiple sclerosis plaques (1). It was subsequently found to be a member of the 10nm or intermediate filament protein family, specifically the intermediate filament protein family Class III, which also includes peripherin, desmin and vimentin. The GFAP protein runs on gels as a ~55kDa protein, usually associated with somewhat lower molecule weight bands which are alternate transcripts from the single gene. The HGNC nomenclature for this protein is, perhaps not surprisingly, GFAP. GFAP is strongly and specifically expressed in astrocytes and certain other astroglia in the central nervous system, in satellite cells in peripheral ganglia, and in non-myelinating Schwann cells in peripheral nerves (2,3). Astrocytes respond to many damage and disease states resulting in "astrogliosis" or the presence of a "glial response". GFAP antibodies are widely used to see the reactive astrocytes which form part of this response, since reactive astrocytes stain much more strongly with GFAP antibodies than normal astrocytes. GFAP also forms a major component of the so-called glial scar, an astrocyte rich structure apparently forming part of the barrier to nerve fiber regeneration following damage in the central nervous system (4). Neural stem cells frequently strongly express GFAP. Antibodies to GFAP are therefore very useful as markers of normal and reactive astrocytic cells and neural stem cells. Finally, Alexander's disease was recently shown to be caused by point mutations in protein coding region of the GFAP gene (5). All forms of Alexander disease are characterized by the presence of Rosenthal fibers, which are GFAP containing cytoplasmic inclusions found in astrocytes. Our antibody produces strong and specific staining on western blots, in immunocytochemistry (see below) and on formalin fixed paraffin embedded sections (see here). The HGNC name for this protein is GFAP.

PBS, pH 7.4 with 0.02% sodium azide.