Recently, it was shown that ephrin type-B receptor 1 (EphB1) was upregulated in injured motor neurons causing activation of astrocytes through EphB1 – stimulation of signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (STAT3) pathway, identifying a potential neuroprotective astrocyte response, which is disrupted in ALS (Tyzack et al., 2017). Here, STAT3 is linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.