PPP1R12A and ischemic stroke: Meng et al. (2021) found that a deficiency in myosin phosphatase target subunit 1 stimulated the phenotypic switching to a synthetic, pro-inflammatory state in human brain VSMCs and after ischaemic stroke in mice. It was also found that modifications in VSMC phenotype after stroke in vivo can impact the incidence, severity, pattern, and outcome of ischaemic stroke (Poittevin et al., 2014).