Roles of the miR-155 in Neuroinflammation and Neurological Disorders: A Potent Biological and Therapeutic Target.

ABSTRACT

Neuroinflammation plays a crucial role in the development and progression of neurological disorders. MicroRNA-155 (miR-155), a miR is known to play in inflammatory responses, is associated with susceptibility to inflammatory neurological disorders and neurodegeneration, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as well as epilepsy, stroke, and brain malignancies. MiR-155 damages the central nervous system (CNS) by enhancing the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, like IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-α, and IRF3. It also disturbs the blood-brain barrier by decreasing junctional complex molecules such as claudin-1, annexin-2, syntenin-1, and dedicator of cytokinesis 1 (DOCK-1), a hallmark of many neurological disorders. This review discusses the molecular pathways which involve miR-155 as a critical component in the progression of neurological disorders, representing miR-155 as a viable therapeutic target.