Furthermore, female MMP-3 KO stroke brains showed decreased expression of apoptosis signaling genes Casp6, Tnfrsf1b, Tnfrsf1a, and Tnf, and downregulated expression of matrix metalloprotease genes Mmp14, Mmp9, and Mmp11 (Figure 5B). Here, CASP6 is linked to Stroke.