KDR and ischemic stroke: VEGF/VEGFR2 (Flk-1) signaling may have neuroprotective effects in many neurological diseases, such as hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke [16,17,18], traumatic brain injury [61], amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [20], Huntington’s disease [62], Alzheimer’s disease [12,21], and Parkinson’s disease [12,22].