Description
Glial fibrillary acidic protein is an intermediate-filament (IF) protein that is highly specific for cells of astroglial lineage, although its tissue-specific role is speculative. Expression is also seen in rat kidney glomeruli and peritubular fibroblasts, leydig cells of testis, skin keratinocytes, osteocytes of bones, chondrocytes of epiglottis, bronchus, and stellate-shaped cells of the pancreas and liver. Its expression is essential for normal white matter architecture and blood-brain barrier integrity, and its absence leads to late-onset CNS dysmyelination. The protein has also been shown to play a role in mitosis by adjusting the filament network present in the cell. During mitosis, there is an increase in the amount of phosphorylated GFAP, and a movement of this modified protein to the cleavage furrow