Vimentin and Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein in the Cells of Ectopic Neural Transplants of Rat Neocortex

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of intermediate filament proteins (vimentin and glial fibrillary acidic protein--GFAP) in the cells of embryonic rat neocortex at different time points after its allotransplantation into injured sciatic nerve of adult animals. Using immunohistochemical methods, the differentiation of GFAP-positive astrocytes from vimentin-positive radial glial cells was observed in embryonic rat neocortex, grafted into sciatic nerve. It was shown that the differentiation of the embryonic neocortical astrocytes in the transplants took place a few days earlier than in the rat neocortex during normal ontogenesis. Reactive gliosis was demonstrated in the long-term transplants, as indicated by a large number of intensely stained GFAP-positive cells and vimentin-containing astrocytes. These findings suggest that ectopic neurotarnsplants could serve as a model for fundamental studies of the mechanisms of reactive gliosis development.