Morphological Investigation of Astrocytic Responses to Stress

There are many ways in which astrocytes are likely to respond to stress, but one of the most reliable phenotypes has been glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and morphological changes. GFAP is usually a reliable indicator for morphological reorganization but cannot be used alone for detailed morphological reconstruction and analysis. Sparse labeling of astrocytes with a fluorescent indicator, e.g., eGFP, is a robust way to determine discrete morphological changes in these cells. Here, we outline both methods to study stress-induced changes in astrocyte morphology.