Together with our early reports (Li et al., 2013; Jie et al., 2014), the present data indicate that during cerebral ischemia, blockage of TRPV4 may inhibit the activation of MMP-9 and the loss of ZO-1 and occludin, which helps to reduce the disruption of BBB integrity and the subsequent vasogenic brain edema and brain injury. This evidence concerns the gene MMP9 and brain ischemia.