A 48 kilodalton intermediate filament associated protein (IFAP) in reactive-like astrocytes induced by dibutyryl cyclic AMP in culture and in reactive astrocytes in situ.

In this paper we demonstrate that the 48 kilodalton (kDa) intermediate filament associated protein (IFAP), previously reported to be present in normal astrocytes, is also present in reactive astrocytes in situ and in reactive-like astrocytes induced by dibutyryl cyclic AMP in vitro. This IFAP is detectable by antibodies in normal rabbit serum (F2N) and is closely associated with glial fibrillary acidic protein-containing intermediate filaments (IF). The expression of 48 kDa IFAP is related to the acquisition of stellate shape by normal and reactive-like astrocytes in vitro. It is proposed that 48 kDa IFAP may be responsible for cross-linking IF into bundles and is thereby associated with cell process formation.