In a rat model of MCAO, Wang et al. demonstrated that overexpression of nicotinamide phosphoribosyl transferase (NAMPT), the rate-limiting enzyme in NAD+ biosynthesis, decreased the size of cerebral infarction via autophagy activation in an early stage of ischemia (2 h) and not after 8 and 24 h following ischemia (Wang et al., 2012). The gene discussed is NAMPT; the disease is ischemia.