Before we get into particulars of protein synthesis inhibition in brain ischemia, it might be worthwhile to dust off the neurons that store what you learned, and promptly forgot, about protein synthesis in college and med school.

First, lets' recall the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology, which has to do with the flow of information in living systems. The Central Dogma states that the information stored in genetic material flows from DNA to RNA to protein, and not in the opposite direction. Information can also flow from DNA to DNA in the process of DNA replication.

Figure: The Central Dogma.

The process in which information contained in DNA is used to make RNA is known as transcription, and the production of protein from information in RNA is called translation. Basically, the Central Dogma asserts that the information encoded in DNA is mostly used to make proteins. That is to say, most  gene products are proteins. Note, however, that RNA itself can also be a gene product, if information flow stops there.