Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in oligodendrogliomas: a reflection of transient GFAP expression by immature oligodendroglia.

Fourteen pure oligodendrogliomas were studied by light- and electronmicroscopy and immunohistochemistry to examine glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) positivity in the tumors. To compare the immunohistochemical staining patterns of neoplastic oligodendroglia and immature oligodendroglia, myelination glia in the white matter of eight normal brains from children under 6 months of age were studied. The tumors possessed light microscopic and ultrastructural features characteristic of oligodendrogliomas. Microtubules were found in the cytoplasm of nine tumors on electronmicroscopy. In one, intermediate filaments and microtubules were observed in occasional tumor cells with polygonal crystalline structures in the cytoplasm. Using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique, all specimens were stained for GFAP, vimentin, S-100 and neuron-specific enolase (NSE). In nine tumors, variable numbers of cells with an oligodendroglial morphology reacted positively for GFAP. All tumors were positive for S-100 and negative for vimentin and NSE. The myelination glia in the eight normal brains stained positively for GFAP but not for vimentin. Vimentin is expressed by developing, reactive and neoplastic astrocytes. Thus, GFAP positivity combined with vimentin negativity in both neoplastic and immature oligodendroglia suggests that GFAP positivity in oligodendrogliomas may reflect the transient expression of this intermediate filament by immature oligodendroglia.