pDRIVE-GFAP

GFAP promoter (Astrocytes) in pDRIVE expression plasmid

The glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is an intermediate filament protein found almost exclusively in astrocytes. It is expressed throughout postnatal life and is upregulated in response to almost any damage to the central nervous system, including Parkinson's disease.

The promoter of the GFAP gene was shown to direct astrocyte-specific transcription in vitro, in vivo [1], and in transgenic mice [2].

The expression of a transgene under the control of the GFAP promoter is regulated in a similar fashion as the endogenous GFAP gene [3].

References:

1. Vandier et al. 2000. Inhibition of glioma cells in vitro and in vivo using a recombinant adenoviral vector containing an astrocyte-specific promoter. Cancer Gene Ther 7:1120-6.
2. Brenner et al. 1994. GFAP promoter directs astrocyte-specific expression in transgenic mice. Neurosci. 14:1030-7.
3. Jakobsson J. et al., 2004. Lesion-dependent regulation of transgene expression in the rat brain using a human glial fibrillary acidic protein-lentiviral vector. Eur J Neurosci. 19(3):761-5.