We studied spatial organization and structural characteristics of striatal glial cells in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) in 48 h after 30-min focal ischemia. Immunocytochemical analysis of nestin and glial fibrillar acidic protein (GFAP) revealed 3 types of activated astrocytes: expressing only nestin, only GFAP, or both markers. There were no nestin-immunopositive astrocytes in the striatum of sham-operated rats. In cells expressing nestin and GFAP, localization of these markers did not completely coincide, which can be explained by different functions of these proteins or formation of heterodimers of nestin with other intermediate filament proteins.
Keywords: focal cerebral ischemia; glial fibrillary acidic protein; nestin; neural progenitor cells.