The PDGFRα is localized to astrocytes in the NVU (Su et al., 2008; Fredriksson et al., 2015), and blocking this pathway with either the PDGFRα antagonist Imatinib or neutralizing antibodies to PDGF-CC reduces BBB dysfunction and improves outcome after ischemic stroke (Su et al., 2008). This evidence concerns the gene CXCR1 and ischemic stroke.