MicroRNAs mediate regulatory effects on cerebral ischemia process

Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and the main reason of disability among adultsglobally. Cerebral ischemia is known as commonplace form of stroke resulted from inadequate blood supply tothe brain in order to meet metabolic demands. Cerebral ischemia is influenced by both genetic profile and theenvironment. Emerging evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) play decisive role in thepathophysiological process of cerebral ischemia leading to brain stroke. miRNAs are class of small noncodingRNA species which play remarkable roles in the regulation of target genes in the way that they bind tocomplementary regions of messenger transcripts to suppress their translation or regulate degradation. Theprecise function of miRNAs in cerebral ischemia is still controversial. In spite of some miRNAs includingmicroRNA-431 and microRNA-128-3p which were shown to have protective impact on ischemia-inducedbrain injury, mainly by targeting the Rho/Rho-kinase signaling pathway and p38α Mitogen-Activated ProteinKinase Activity, there are other miRNAs such as miR-200a and microRNA-383 that aggravate cerebralischemia injury through affecting STATs/c-Myc and MAPK/c-Myc signalings. Hence, further studies areneeded for better understanding about miRNAs implication in cerebral ischemia.

Keywords:

Cerebral ischemia , Stroke , MicroRNAs