Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunochemical profile after junin virus infection of rat cultured astrocytes.

Cultured astrocytes derived from newborn rat brain were inoculated with Junin virus (JV) to characterize their response to infection by means of their glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunochemical profile. Samples from 1 to 11 days post-inoculation (pi), as well as matched controls, were serially harvested for GFAP labeling by peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) method. It was only at day 3 that significantly greater values of GFAP staining (P < 0.05) were disclosed by three complementary approaches: image analysis, ELISA and immunoblot densitometry. Since such increase was abolished by Triton X-100 treatment, soluble GFAP fraction appeared responsible for the early though transient enhancement of GFAP immunoreactivity that followed viral inoculation.