Recently, we have demonstrated that NeuroD1-based gene therapy can partially rescue motor functional deficits through converting reactive astrocytes into functional neurons in rodent ischemic stroke models induced by cortical injection of endothelin-1 (ET-1), a peptide that causes blood vessel constriction and hence ischemic injury (Chen et al., 2019). The gene discussed is NEUROD1; the disease is ischemic stroke.