Ischemic stroke predominates in all types of stroke and none neuroprotective agents success in the clinical trial. MicroRNAs are small endogenous noncoding RNA molecules that act as negative or positive regulators of gene expressions by binding completely or partially to complementary target sequences in the mRNAs. The genes which could be modulated by microRNAs play a role in the etiology and pathophysiology ischemic stroke. Therefore, microRNAs may have function on ischemic stroke. A lot of previous studies have investigated the roles of microRNAs in the ischemic stroke. This mini review would highlight the recent progress of microRNAs on the ischemic stroke. Accumulating evidence demonstrated that microRNAs contributed to the etiology of ischemic stroke and modulated the pathophysiological process such as brain edema, local inflammation, and apoptosis in the brain tissues after stroke. And we also discussed the potential application of microRNAs in ischemic stroke such as a biomarker of stroke and drug target. In conclusion, microRNAs play an important role in stroke etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and therapy for ischemic stroke. It needs further research to investigate the biological function in ischemic stroke before it enters the clinical practice. 1. Introduction During the last decades, developing a neuroprotective agent to treat stroke was a nightmare for industry because more than 1700 agents failed [1]. However, due to high mortality and morbidity of stroke, 80% of which are ischemic stroke, looking for a novel therapeutics is an urgent thing [2, 3]. In the recent years, much evidence demonstrates that microRNA may be both potential target and therapeutics for ischemic stroke. microRNA (miRNA) is a small noncoding RNA with 18–25 nucleotides functioning in transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression [4]. It was firstly found by Lee et al. in 1993 in elegans [5]. Until now, there are thousands of microRNAs in the human beings, animals, and even plants [6]. They play essential roles in multiple physiology processes, such as neuronal development and angiogenesis and also in many pathophysiological processes, such as inflammation after stroke [7]. At the mean time, microRNAs are also influenced by environmental issues and regulated by other molecules. Twenty years after discovery, miRNA was finally used to treat human disease in one clinical trial. Miravirsen, a locked nucleic acid-modified DNA phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotide that sequesters mature miR-122 in a highly stable heteroduplex, was used to
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