Vimentin-expressing proximal reactive astrocytes correlate with migration rather than proliferation following focal brain injury

Vimentin-expressing astrocytes in the adult are commonly associated with the proximal, most reactive gliotic response ultimately leading to the formation of a new glial limitans. It was thought, since vimentin expression and astroglial proliferation are most prominent nearest the lesion site, that vimentin may be a characteristic of immature newly divided astrocytes. We recently established a unique distribution of vimentin-expressing reactive astrocytes at the base of a focal cortical ischemic lesion in rats. The purpose of the present study was to assess the correlation of proliferation and migration with this unique distribution following focal injury. With the use of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and immunohistochemistry for astrocytes and microglia/macrophages, proliferation and migration of cells was shown to be throughout the ipsilateral hemisphere on day one and become progressively more centralized to the lesion by day 3. The vimentin-expressing area at the base of the lesion does not exhibit distinguishable proliferation rates from non-vimentin-expressing regions surrounding the lesion and did not demonstrate obvious double labeling with BrdU+ cells, although on occasion vimentin expression is closely associated with BrdU. However, this region did become a focal point for migration into and around the lesion by day 3. Additionally, asymmetrical distribution of vimentin was shown in four different injury models with vimentin+ cells always situated between the lesion and the corpus callosum. It is concluded that although vimentin-expressing cells did not correlate with proliferating cells in these focal injury models, perhaps this distinct population of reactive astrocytes serve as a source of cytokines or as a physical conduit for migrating cells from distant sites through the corpus callosum.