VEGFA and brain ischemia: During the oxidative stress induced by cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, the hypoxia inducible factor 1 subunit alpha (HIF-1α)/VEGF signaling pathway is activated, enabling repair of the endothelial barrier in the lung; additionally, the NRF2/heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) pathway is activated to upregulate antioxidative stress (Fan et al., 2019).