Figure 7

A schematic of the role for microRNA (miR)-181c-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in microglia-mediated neuronal injury. Hypoxia-ischemia resulted in microglia activation and miR-181c downregulation. Downregulation of miR-181c leads to increased TNF-α production, as TNF-α is a direct target of miR-181c. TNF-α can activate receptor-mediated proapoptotic pathways within the neuron. TNF-α can also stimulate microglia activation in the form of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) induction, which leads to production of nitric oxide (NO) Finally, the interaction between NO and superoxide anion (O2⁻) forms toxic peroxynitrite (ONOO⁻), which also causes neuron damage.