Furthermore, combining ICA and MSCs was shown to promote angiogenesis and neurogenesis, as a result of increased production of VEGF and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) through activation of PI3K and Erk1/2 MAPK, in an ischemic stroke rat model (Liu D. et al., 2018). The gene discussed is BDNF; the disease is ischemic stroke.