GFAP (human, recombinant)

Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a protein encoded by the GFAP gene in humans and a member of the class III intermediate filament (IF) protein family. It is composed of an N-terminal head domain, a highly conserved alpha-helical rod domain, and a C-terminal tail domain that mediate GFAP self-assembly, dimerization, and oligomerization, respectively. GFAP is expressed in, and has commonly been used as a pan marker for, mature astrocytes. GFAP IFs form a dynamic network of cytosolic filament proteins that collectively provide structure and strength to the cytoskeleton of astrocytes, thus supporting their morphology and function. Isolated astrocytes from neonatal Gfap-/- mouse brain have reduced numbers of IFs and IF bundles, increased proliferation, and loss of contact-inhibited growth. Gfap-/- mice develop more diffuse and infiltrative brain lesions compared to wild-type littermates in a mouse model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Mutations in the rod and tail domains of GFAP have been associated with Rosenthal fiber formation, a hallmark of Alexander disease. Transgenic overexpression of Gfap in mice increases the expression of certain cytokines and antioxidative enzymes in the olfactory bulb and has been used as a mouse model of Alexander disease. GFAP can be citrullinated on the arginine residue at position 270 (R270) and at R416 by protein arginine deiminase 1 (PAD1, Cay-10784) and PAD2 (Cay-10785). Citrullinated GFAP has been found in rat cerebral cortex in a model of traumatic brain injury, as well as in postmortem hippocampus from patients with Alzheimer's disease.Synonyms: ALXDRD, Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein, Intermediate Filament Protein. Purity: >65% estimated by SDS-PAGE. Source: Recombinant N-terminal histidine-tagged GFAP expressed in E. coli. Amino Acids: 2-432. MW: 51.9 kDa. Formulation: (Request formulation change), 10 mM Tris, pH 8.0. UniProt Accession #: P14136.