Stroke is currently the leading cause of death and disability worldwide.1 Accumulating studies indicated that the pathogenesis of stroke was involved with a series of cascades including energy failure, excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, apoptosis and neuroinflammation.2 Among them, neuroinflammation affected the development and progression of stroke, which was primarily mediated by abundant pro‐inflammatory cytokines such as TNF‐α, IL‐1β, IL‐6 and so on in resident glia.3 Astrocytes are the most abundant resident glia and play an important role in stroke. The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is stroke disorder.