Among the chemokines implicated in cerebral ischemia, MCP-1 (also known as CCL2) and MIP-1α have been shown to play an important role in promoting tissue damage via recruitment of inflammatory cells (Wang et al., 1995; Che et al., 2001; Takami et al., 2001; Minami and Satoh, 2003). Here, CCL2 is linked to brain ischemia.