Astrocytes in cat visual cortex studied by GFAP and S-100 immunocytochemistry during postnatal development.

A monoclonal antibody to glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and a polyclonal antiserum to the S-100 protein were used to study the expression of these astrocytic proteins in the postnatal visual cortex of the cat. Three changes in antigen expression of these astroglial markers could be distinguished over development. First, the density of cells in the white matter, which are heavily labelled with both antibodies from birth until adulthood, diminishes after the third postnatal weeks. By intracellular filling with Lucifer Yellow the reduction of the cell density can be attributed to the disappearance of large astrocytes with a morphology of transforming radial glia, present only in early postnatal development. Second, heavily labelled, large cells present in the grey matter at the seventh postnatal day have disappeared by the fifth postnatal week. On the basis of their morphology these cells can also be classified as radial glial cells. Finally, astroglial cells of the adult-like stellate form appear to be labelled in the cortical layers between the third and seventh postnatal weeks. While the density of these cells and the S-100 immunoreactivity of the cell bodies is adult-like at the fourth postnatal week, there is a gradual increase of the staining intensity with the GFAP antibody up to the seventh postnatal week. This developmental period is paralleled by the appearance of S-100-positive astrocytic processes. The gradual expression of GFAP immunoreactivity and the increased expression of S-100 is interpreted as reflecting the time course of astrocytic maturation. A possible relation of the maturation of astrocytes and cortical development, both of which are prominent in the time period between the third and seventh postnatal week, is discussed.