To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the crosslink between IL-17 A and p38 MAPK, double immunofluorescence labeling was performed to identify which cells were responsible for the elevation of IL-17 A at 28 d.p.i. IL-17 A immunoreactivity was colocalized with the astrocyte marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) but not with the microglia marker Iba-1 or the neuronal marker NeuN, indicating that astrocytes are the main cellular source of IL-17 A in our stroke recovery model (Figure 6a). This evidence concerns the gene AIF1 and stroke disorder.