Progress in research on ionizing radiation-induced microRNA

MicroRNAs(miRNAs)are small single-stranded noncoding RNAs consisting of 21-23 nucleotides that play important gene-regulatory roles in eukaryotes by pairing to the mRNAs of protein-coding genes to direct their posttranscriptional repression.A growing body of evidence indicates that alterations in miRNA expression may occur following exposure to several oxidative stress including ionizing radiation.So miRNAs may serve as potential new targets for co-therapies aiming to improve the effects of radiation disease therapy in cancer patients.The progress in research on ionizing radiation-induced miRNAs is reviewed in this paper.