To determine whether ischemia alters STAT3 activation in cerebral microvascular ECs, primary cultured ECs were subjected to ischemia-like injury induced by incubation under oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) for 8 h, followed by incubation in glucose-containing medium under normoxic conditions (reoxygenation) for 0, 6, 12 and 24 h. The gene discussed is STAT3; the disease is ischemia.