EDN1 and brain ischemia: We previously showed that transient brain ischemia induced by injection of endothelin-1 into the rodent brain caused a delayed loss of neurons, accompanied by microglial phagocytosis of neurons, and knock-out of the phagocytic receptor Mer tyrosine kinase (MerTK) or the opsonin MFG-E8 prevented both the delayed neuronal loss and long-term functional deficits [18].