Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is the major structural protein of the glial intermediate filament of astrocytes that forms part of the cytoskeleton of mature astrocytes and other glial cells, but is not found outside the CNS. Anti-GFAP is produced when the protein enters the bloodstream after a rupture of the blood brain barrier, thus serves as a blood based diagnostic marker of brain injury.
References:
Zhang Z, Zoltewicz JS, Mondello S, Newsom KJ, Yang Z, Yang B, Kobeissy F, Guingab J, Glushakova O, Robicsek S, Heaton S, Buki A, Hannay J, Gold MS, Rubenstein R, Lu XC, Dave JR, Schmid K, Tortella F, Robertson CS, Wang KK. Human traumatic brain injury induces autoantibody response against glial fibrillary acidic protein and its breakdown products. PLoS One. 2014 Mar 25;9(3):e92698. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0092698. Erratum in: PLoS One. 2014;9(6):e101712. PMID: 24667434; PMCID: PMC3965455.
Yang Z, Wang KK. Glial fibrillary acidic protein: from intermediate filament assembly and gliosis to neurobiomarker. Trends Neurosci. 2015 Jun;38(6):364-74. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2015.04.003. Epub 2015 May 11. PMID: 25975510; PMCID: PMC4559283.
Anti-Glial fibrillary acidic protein (IgM)
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