CSF3 and ischemia: Exogenously administered G-CSF exerts neuroprotective effects in animal models of ischemia through a number of mechanisms, such as attenuation of glutamate-induced neurotoxicity, activation of the cerebral G-CSF receptor, and enhancement of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis attributable to G-CSF-induced activation and mobilization of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) [6,7,8,9,10,11,12].