We found that at 9 h after permanent MCAO, neurons in the ipsilateral and contralateral hemispheres upregulated the expression of Shh, reinforcing previous reports of neuronal Shh expression in the normal brain and early after ischemia.9,16,40 Early after stroke, predominantly neurons but also astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia and endothelial cells in the ischemic area upregulated Shh receptors expression. The gene discussed is SHH; the disease is ischemia.