TRANSGENIC STUDIES OF PERIPHERAL AND CENTRAL GLIA

Transgenic manipulation of gene expression in the nervous system has p roven immensely useful for the study of glia. This review focuses on s tudies of Schwann cell and astrocyte biology and pathology. These stud ies began with promoter mapping for glial-specific genes (P-o and GFAP ), and then progressed to oncogene-induced transformation and toxin-in duced cell ablation of glia. For GFAP, an intermediate filament of ast rocytes, we have investigated the effects of alterations in gene dosag e, both in terms of deficiency or excess of this structural protein. F inally, the utility of green fluorescent protein as a marker for live astrocytes is described.