Specific Human Astrocyte Subtype Revealed by Affinity Purified GFAP(+1) Antibody; Unpurified Serum Cross-Reacts with Neurofilament-L in Alzheimer

The human GFAP splice variants GFAPΔ164 and GFAPΔexon6 both result in a GFAP protein isoform with a unique out-of-frame carboxy-terminus that can be detected by the GFAP(+1) antibody. We previously reported that GFAP(+1) was expressed in astrocytes and in degenerating neurons in Alzheimer's disease brains. In this study we aimed at further investigating the neuronal GFAP(+1) expression and we started by affinity purifying the GFAP(+1) antibody. The purified antibody resulted in a loss of neuronal GFAP(+1) signal, although other antibodies directed against the amino- and carboxy-terminus of GFAPα still revealed GFAP-immunopositive neurons, as described before. With an in-depth analysis of a western blot, followed by mass spectrometry we discovered that the previously detected neuronal GFAP(+1) expression was due to cross-reactivity of the antibody with neurofilament-L (NF-L). This was confirmed by double-label fluorescent immunohistochemistry and western blotting with the unpurified GFAP(+1) antibody and an antibody against NF-L. Our data imply that NF-L can accumulate in some tangle-like structures in Alzheimer brains. More importantly, the purified GFAP(+1) antibody clearly revealed a specific subtype of astrocytes in the adult human brain. These large astrocytes are present throughout the brain, e.g., along the subventricular zone, in the hippocampus, in the striatum and in the spinal cord of controls, Alzheimer, and Parkinson patients. The presence of a specific GFAP-isoform suggests a specialized function of these astrocytes.