Using genetic studies in mice coupled with histopathological analysis of the brains after ischemic stroke, we demonstrate that endothelial cell deletion of Rab7a, a small GTPase crucial for protein degradation through the endolysosomal system, reduces acute BBB leakage and improves neuronal health in mice after ischemic stroke by reducing the degradation of select adherens and tight junction proteins, and preserving the structural morphology of tight junctions at both confocal and electron microscopy level. This evidence concerns the gene RAB7A and ischemic stroke.