GSN and brain ischemia: It has been demonstrated that gelsolin modulates voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-coupled channel activity and reduces vulnerability to excitotoxicity in cultured hippocampal neurons after its activation by Ca2+ [38] and that gelsolin -/- mice are more susceptible to brain injury after ischemia/reperfusion and gelsolin could serve as a neuroprotective factor in murine cerebral ischemia [39].