miR-17 ~ 92, an miRNA family containing three paralogous polycistronic clusters, was initially considered as an oncogene and was later demonstrated to trigger various physiological and pathological processes. Emerging evidence has implicated miR-17 ~ 92 family as a master regulator of neurogenesis. Through targeting numerous genes that affect cell cycle arrest, stemness deprivation, and lineage commitment, miR-17 ~ 92 family controls the proliferation and neuronal differentiation of neural stem/progenitor cells in both developmental and adult brains. Due to the essential roles of miR-17 ~ 92 family, its misexpression is widely associated with acute and chronic neurological disorders by attenuating neurogenesis and facilitating neuronal apoptosis. The promising neurogenic potential of miR-17 ~ 92 family also makes it a promising “medicine” to activate the endogenous and exogenous regenerative machinery, thus enhance tissue repair and function recovery after brain injury. In this review, we focus on the recent progress made toward understanding the involvement of miR-17 ~ 92 family in regulating both developmental and adult neurogenesis, and discuss the regenerative potential of miR-17 ~ 92 family in treating neurological disorders.

miR-17~92是一个含有三个旁系同源多顺反子簇的miRNA家族，最初被认为是一种癌基因，后来被证明可以触发各种生理和病理过程。新出现的证据表明 miR-17 ~ 92 家族是神经发生的主要调节因子。通过靶向影响细胞周期停滞、干性剥夺和谱系确定的众多基因，miR-17 ~ 92 家族控制发育和成人大脑中神经干/祖细胞的增殖和神经元分化。由于 miR-17~92 家族的重要作用，其错误表达通过减弱神经发生和促进神经元凋亡与急性和慢性神经系统疾病广泛相关。miR-17~92家族的神经源性潜力也使其成为激活内源性和外源性再生机制，从而增强脑损伤后组织修复和功能恢复的有希望的“药物”。在这篇综述中，我们重点介绍了最近在了解 miR-17 ~ 92 家族在调节发育和成人神经发生中的作用方面取得的进展，并讨论了 miR-17 ~ 92 家族在治疗神经系统疾病中的再生潜力。