The Interplay of MicroRNAs in the Inflammatory Mechanisms Following Ischemic Stroke.

Immunity and inflammation are important parameters of the pathophysiology of stroke, a destructive illness that is the second most common cause of death worldwide. Following ischemic stroke, neuroinflammation plays a critical role in neurodegeneration and brain injury. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenously expressed, noncoding RNA molecules that function to inhibit mRNA translation. Recent studies demonstrate that miRNAs are key regulators of inflammatory processes contributing to ischemic stroke injuries. Several miRNAs, and their target genes, have been shown to play a critical role in the innate inflammatory responses mediated by immune cells. The capacity of miRNAs to regulate several target genes demonstrates their exceptional importance in neuroinflammatory therapeutics following ischemic stroke. In this review, we focus on the miRNAs associated with ischemic neuroinflammation and describe the potential of miRNAs as biomarkers of neuroinflammation and promising therapeutic agents for modulation of deleterious inflammatory responses following ischemic stroke.