VEGF regulates the dissociation of TJs under ischemic condition (Fischer et al., 2002; Figure 1) and endocytosis (Horowitz and Seerapu, 2012), and the subsequent increase in vessel permeability through VEGFR-2 activation, which contributes to cerebral swelling at the early stage after ischemic stroke (Abumiya et al., 2005). Here, VEGFA is linked to ischemic stroke.