In an ischemic stroke study performed by Zhu et al., activation of the RIPK1/RIPK3/MLKL pathway contributed to astrogliosis and glial scar formation by enhancing VEGF-D/vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-3 signaling, and Nec-1 attenuated brain damage by inhibiting the formation of astrogliosis and glial scar via suppression of the RIPK1 and VEGF-D/VEGFR-3 signaling pathways [56]. The gene discussed is MLKL; the disease is ischemic stroke.