miR-210: the master hypoxamir

MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs implicated mainly in post-transcriptional gene silencing by interacting with the untranslated region of the transcript. miR-210 represents major hypoxia-inducible miRs, also known as hypoxamirs, which is ubiquitously expressed in a wide range of cells, serving versatile functions. This review article summarizes the current progress on biogenesis of miR-210 and its physiological roles including arrest of cell proliferation, repression of mitochondrial respiration, arrest of DNA repair, vascular biology, and angiogenesis. Given the fact that miR-210 is aberrantly expressed in a number of diseases such as tumor progression, myocardial infarction and cutaneous ischemic wounds, miR-210 could serve as an excellent candidate for prognostic purposes and therapeutic intervention. With the advancement of computational prediction, high-throughput target validation methodology, sequencing, proteomic analysis, and microarray, it is anticipated that more down-stream targets of miR-210 and its associated biological consequences under hypoxia will be unveiled establishing miR-210 as a major hub in the biology of hypoxia-response.