In the present study, we demonstrated that transduced Tat-HSP22 attenuates oxidative stress-induced hippocampal neuronal cell death through the mitochondrial signaling pathway and plays a crucial role in inhibiting neuronal cell death, suggesting that Tat-HSP22 protein may be used to prevent oxidative stress-related brain diseases including ischemia. The gene discussed is HSPB8; the disease is ischemia.