Experimental drug helps the brain recover from stroke -- in mice

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http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-stroke-treatment-small-molecule-20120424,0,6344202.story
Though stroke is a major cause of long-term disability, the only proven treatment for patients is to dissolve a clot or stop the bleeding in the brain while the stroke is happening. Once it’s over, doctors and therapists can only offer rehabilitation to minimize the damage. The experimental drug being developed by scientists from Stanford University School of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College and UC San Francisco aims to change that.
The drug is designed to mimic a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, which is thought to help stimulate growth of new neurons and make the brain “plastic,” or able to adapt to changes. BDNF works in cooperation with a receptor in the brain called TrkB. So the scientists set out to find a way to activate TrkB in hopes that doing so would mimic the action of BDNF and promote actual healing in the brain.
The researchers turned to a small molecule called LM22A-4 that – like BDNF – is known to bind to TrkB. The compound was made by a company called Ricerca Biosciences.
From another source:
 The results are promising because the compound wasn’t administered to the animals until a full three days after they had suffered strokes, noted Buckwalter. As such, the treatment – if proven effective in humans – could be particularly useful for patients who suffer strokes while sleeping or don’t readily recognize the symptoms and don’t get to the hospital fast enough for existing therapeutic agents to be administered.