Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in ependymal cells during development. An immunocytochemical study.

Human ependymal cells show positive immunostaining for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) at one stage of the fetal development. The reaction seems to coincide with maturation of the epithelial layer and development of cilia. Two types of reactive cells are present: epithelial and tanycytes. The GFAP-positive reaction in both these cells is transient, appearing at different times and with different patterns in the various regions of the ventricular system. In order to explain the presence of detectable GFAP in developing ependymal cells and its absence in mature cells, it is proposed that either the synthesis of detectable amounts of GFAP occurs only at a stage of ependymal cell maturation, or that the intermediate filaments assembled in developing ependymal cell are antigenically distinct form those of the mature cells. The present findings indicate that tanycytes are not an immature from of ependymal cells but that they develop parallel to the epithelial cells. The role of the tanycytes remains obscure, but it is suggested that they are not related to radial glia.