Interspecies identification of astrocytes after intracerebral transplantation.

Species-specificity of the Tp-GFAP 1 (glial fibrillary acidic protein) monoclonal antibodies raised against calf GFAP was established by means of immunochemical techniques. Since it was shown to combine with rabbit GFAP but not with mouse GFAP it allows the characterization of a new experimental model potentially useful in the study of the fate of implanted astrocytes after intracerebral graft of CNS fragments. Preliminary observations indicate that embryonic and newborn rabbit astrocytes are able to survive, express GFAP and migrate when implanted into newborn mouse brain.