Immunohistochemical study of the glial fibrillary acidic protein in the brain of the developing and adult seps Chalcides chalcides (Squamata: Scincidae).

The present immunohistochemical study reports the distribution of the glia in the brain of the skink Chalcides chalcides by revelation of the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), specific marker of the glial cells. In adult skink, GFAP immunopositive structures are abundant and mainly represented by fibers of different length and size. Their number is lower in the telencephalon and increases in other regions such as in the cerebellum, in the diencephalon and in the medulla oblungata. Radial glia is the more abundant glial type. It is much expressed in the cerebellum and around the third ventricle, whereas the astrocytes appear few and limited in particular in the cerebellum and in the medulla oblongata. In embryos, the formation of all these structures, very defined and recognizable, is observed only in the embryonic stages E39 and E40, i.e. those next to birth, but some GFAP immunopositive fibers are already evidenced at E32 in the diencephalon and the medulla oblongata.This study shows that the occurrence and the distribution of the glia in C. chalcides is similar to that reported in other Squamata.