EGF and ischemia: This double staining revealed a homogeneous pattern of striatal endothelial cells and mostly activated microglia/macrophages (Fig 4A and 4B) in the border zone between the ischemia-affected striatum and only partially involved neocortex, a feature that was present in both non-treated (Fig 3B–3B”) and EGF-treated animals (Fig 4A–4A”).