STAT3 and brain ischemia: Following cerebral ischemia and hypoxia, increased phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in astrocytes promotes their inflammatory activation, while enhanced expression of αB-crystallin (CRYAB) and dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) can inhibit astrocyte activation by suppressing STAT3 phosphorylation (Qiu et al., 2016).