ITGA4 and ischemic stroke: Interestingly, most of the top 10 upregulated DEGs, such as Thbs1, CD36, ITGA4, and ADAMTS12, are involved in the function of endothelial cells, as shown in the heatmap (Fig. 3F) [30-33], implying a role of NeuroD1 in regulating the gene expression of endothelial cells post ischemic stroke.