Coexpression of glial fibrillary acidic protein and vimentin in the central and peripheral nervous systems of the twitcher mutant

Abstract
A method to purify glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) from mouse spinal cord is described, which permits the measurement of GFAP in the sciatic nerve of the twitcher mutant and control mouse. Cytoskeletal proteins from sciatic nerves and purified GFAP standards were electrophoresed on gel, transferred to nitrocellulose paper, and immunostained with anti-GFAP antibody. From the immunostained, 51,000-dalton band, we estimated about 200 ng GFAP per 50 μg of cytoskeletal protein in the twitcher sciatic nerve. The control nerve showed no detectable GFAP. Double-labeled fluorescence immunocytochemistry showed that in the brainstem of twitcer mutant, GFAP and vimentin were coexpressed in the majority of astrocytes.

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