Tg(Gfap-EGFP)9Shb

This transgene joins the genomic sequence comprising nucleotides -2567 through +12, relative to the transcription initiation site, of the mouse glial fibrillary acidic protein promoter to the cDNA encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) followed by a rabbit beta-globin polyadenylation signal. No EGFP fluorescence is detectable in fixed slices of most brain regions of unmanipulated mice; a few fluorescent cells occur in the hippocampi of only some animals. Following a needle-inflicted wound to the brain, fluorescent cells with morphologic characteristics and surface markers (vimentin and GFAP) of reactive glia, but not of microglia (CD11b) or neurons (NeuN), become apparent in the region surrounding the wound. In living brain slices, EGFP is expressed in cells with the appearance of protoplasmic, fibrous and reactive astrocytes. Fluorescence is visible throughout these cells, including in astrocytic fine processes. (J:110869, J:110870)