Glial fibrillary acidic protein in tuberous sclerosis

We examined two cases of tuberous sclerosis for the presence of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) using the immunoperoxidase technique. The majority of abnormal giant cells in the cerebral cortex showed no reaction to anti-GFAP. Some abnormal cells in the cortical tuber and white matter showed a weak positive reaction. All of the subependymal tumor cells showed no GFAP in their cytoplasm. The abnormal giant cells in tuberous sclerosis, morphologically similar to gemistocytic astrocyte, are not accompanied by antigenic properties of GFAP.