During ischemic stroke, PGC-1α is first activated by upstream AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation and sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) acetylation (Kaarniranta et al., 2018), which then interacts with downstream nuclear respiratory factor 1/2 (NRF1/2), taking part in the expression of nuclear and mitochondrial respiratory factors. Here, NRF1 is linked to ischemic stroke.