VGF is required for recovery after focal stroke.

The high incidence of ischemic stroke worldwide and poor efficacy of neuroprotective drugs has increased the need for novel therapies in stroke recovery. Transcription of the neurosecretory protein VGF (non-acronym) is enhanced following ischemic stroke and proposed to be important for stroke recovery. To determine the requirement for VGF in recovery, we created Vgf:Nestin-Cre conditional knockout (Vgf cKO) mice and induced a photothrombotic focal ischemic stroke.