| First Author | Nawashiro H | Year | 1998 |
| Journal | Neuroreport | Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 8 | Pages | 1691-6 |
| PubMed ID | 9665584 | Mgi Jnum | J:48767 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1274982 | Doi | 10.1097/00001756-199806010-00004 |
| Citation | Nawashiro H, et al. (1998) Mice lacking GFAP are hypersensitive to traumatic cerebrospinal injury. Neuroreport 9(8):1691-6 |
| abstractText | GLIAL fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is an intermediate filament protein expressed primarily in astrocytes. We have tested whether GFAP protects against mechanical stress by inducing percussive head injury in GFAP-null mice with a weight drop device. When mice were positioned on a foam bed which allowed head movement at impact, all 14 wild-type mice tested survived, but 12 of 15 GFAP-null mice died within a few minutes. The cause of death appeared to be upper cervical spinal cord injury resulting in respiratory arrest. When the foam bed was replaced by a firm support, both GFAP-null and wild-type mice survived. These results indicate that mice lacking GFAP are hypersensitive to cervical spinal cord injury caused by sudden acceleration of the head. (C) 1998 Rapid Science Ltd. |
