Invitrogen™ GFAP Monoclonal Antibody (GA5), eBioscience™, Invitrogen™

Description

This GA5 MAb reacts with human, mouse, rat, chicken, rabbit, and pig glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). This 49-kDa type III intermediate filament protein is expressed in neural tissues and distinguishes astrocytes from other glial cells during central nervous system development. Three alternative splice variants of GFAP exist; however, alpha-GFAP is the predominant form expressed in astrocytes. GFAP can co-assemble with vimentin and nestin in astrocytes, but such associations are not required for assembly. Like other intermediate filaments, GFAP assembly is dependent on phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of the N-terminal domain. Studies have demonstrated that mutations in the GFAP gene lead to Alexander disease. Moreover, GFAP has also been shown to be overexpressed in certain glial-derived tumors. Applications Reported: This GA5 antibody has been reported for use in immunocytochemistry, western blotting, immunohistochemical staining of formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue sections, and flow cytometric analysis. Applications Tested: This GA5 antibody has been tested by immunoblotting of lysate prepared from mouse brain, immunocytochemistry of fixed and permeabilized C6 cells, and immunohistochemistry of FFPE human tissue using low pH antigen retrieval. This can be used at less than or equal to 5 μg/mL. Purity: Greater than 90%, as determined by SDS-PAGE. Aggregation: Less than 10%, as determined by HPLC. Filtration: 0.2 μm post-manufacturing filtered.

GFAP (Glial fibrillary acidic protein) is a member of the class III intermediate filament protein family. GFAP is heavily and specifically expressed in astrocytes and certain astroglia of the central nervous system, in satellite cells of peripheral ganglia, and in non-myelinating Schwann cells of peripheral nerves. In addition, neural stem cells strongly express GFAP. Antibodies to GFAP are very useful as markers of astrocytic cells. In addition, many types of brain tumor, presumably derived from astrocytic cells, heavily express GFAP. GFAP is also found in the lens epithelium, Kupffer cells of the liver, in some cells in salivary tumors and has been reported in erythrocytes. GFAP is used as a marker to distinguish astrocytes from other glial cells during development. Mutations in this gene cause Alexander disease, a rare disorder of astrocytes in the central nervous system. Alternative splicing of the GFAP gene results in multiple transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms.