α Isoform of smooth muscle actin is expressed in astrocytes in vitro and in vivo

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Abstract
We have previously reported that astroglial cell lines derived from spontaneously immortalized mouse cerebellar cultures as well as primary astrocyte cultures express the mRNA of the α isoform of smooth muscle actin. In this report, we have used an antiserum specific for the α smooth muscle actin protein to investigate the presence and the pattern of expression of a smooth muscle actin protein at the cellular level with immunocytochemical methods. The results show that an anti‐smooth muscle vessels α actin antiserum labels a typical actin network in the D19 astroglial cell clone and in flat astrocytes of primary cultures derived from various CNSregions of embryonic and postnatal mice. Furthermore, this antiserum labels distinct populations of astrocytes in the adult mouse brain, in particular in the corpus callosum and the fornix. However, in the corpus callosum, astrocytic processes are strongly labeled by anti‐SMV α actin antibodies only in parasagittal planes. Thus, a smooth muscle actin represents a newmarker for subsets of astrocytes.