Muller glia reactivity follows retinal injury despite the absence of the glial fibrillary acidic protein gene in Xenopus.

ABSTRACT: Intermediate filament proteins are structural components of the cellular cytoskeleton with cell-type specific expression and function. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a type III intermediate filament protein and is up-regulated in glia of the nervous system in response to injury and during neurodegenerative diseases. In the retina, GFAP levels are dramatically increased in Müller glia and are thought to play a role in the extensive structural changes resulting in Müller cell hypertrophy and glial scar formation. In spite of similar changes to the morphology of Xenopus Müller cells following injury, we found that Xenopus lack a gfap gene. Other type III intermediate filament proteins were, however, significantly induced following rod photoreceptor ablation and retinal ganglion cel

SUBMITTER: Martinez-De Luna RI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5026855 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature