histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...

, the GFAP stain is done to determine whether cells contain

glial fibrillary acidic protein Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a protein that is encoded by the ''GFAP'' gene in humans. It is a type III intermediate filament (IF) protein that is expressed by numerous cell types of the central nervous system (CNS), including astro ...

, a

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

found in

glial Glia, also called glial cells (gliocytes) or neuroglia, are non-neuronal cell (biology), cells in the central nervous system (the brain and the spinal cord) and in the peripheral nervous system that do not produce Action potential, electrical ...

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a de ...

s. It is useful for determining whether a

tumour A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue (biology), tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tiss ...

is of glial origin.

References

{{Pathology-stub Staining