Since the expression of TRAF2 was induced following cerebral ischemia (Fig. 1), and TRAF2 knockdown augmented ischemic and inflammatory condition-induced cell death both in vivo (Fig. 2e, f) and in vitro (Figs. 3e, f and 4e, f), we further investigated whether TRAF2 played a protective role in cell death following experimental ischemic stroke by interacting with MLKL. Here, TRAF2 is linked to brain ischemia.