LncRNAs: Promising Therapeutic Targets and Biomarkers for Ischemic Stroke

Ischemic stroke is one of the leading causes of mortality and disability worldwide. Currently, options for ischemic stroke clinical therapy remain limited to intravenous thrombolysis and thrombectomy, which can only be applied to a minority of patients due to narrow therapeutic time window. Therefore, the discovery of new therapeutic targets and biomarkers is of great significance for ischemic stroke therapy. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are the most extensive ncRNA transcripts and play critical roles in different kinds of diseases. Accumulative evidence suggests that lncRNAs are widely involved in multiple pathophysiological processes of ischemic stroke, highlighting their potential role as ischemic stroke therapeutic targets. Moreover, the significantly altered expression of lncRNAs in circulation of ischemic stroke patients reveals that they may serve as diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognosis biomarkers for ischemic stroke. In this commentary, we provide an overview of the roles of lncRNAs in the pathophysiology of ischemic stroke and discuss the opportunities of lncRNAs in the diagnosis and treatment of ischemic stroke. In addition, the challenges for the clinical translation of lncRNAs in ischemic stroke are also discussed.