Advances in the Techniques for the Prediction of microRNA Targets

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Hao Zheng¹  Rongguo Fu³  Jin-Tao Wang⁴  Qinyou Liu²  Haibin Chen⁵ 

[1] School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 225 North Avenue NW, Atlanta, GA 30301, USA; E-Mails:;Animal Reproduction Institute of Guangxi University, 100 Daxue Road, Nanning 530005, Guangxi, China; E-Mail:;Department of Nephrology, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710004, Shannxi, China; E-Mail:;Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, 56 Xin Jian Nan Road, Taiyuan 030001, Shanxi, China; E-Mail:;Department of Histology and Embryology, Shantou University Medical College, 22 Xinling Road, Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China

关键词: prediction;    microRNA;    feature selection;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms14048179

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding, endogenous RNA molecules that play important roles in a variety of normal and diseased biological processes by post-transcriptionally regulating the expression of target genes. They can bind to target messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts of protein-coding genes and negatively control their translation or cause mRNA degradation. miRNAs have been found to actively regulate a variety of cellular processes, including cell proliferation, death, and metabolism. Therefore, their study is crucial for the better understanding of cellular functions in eukaryotes. To better understand the mechanisms of miRNA: mRNA interaction and their cellular functions, it is important to identify the miRNA targets accurately. In this paper, we provide a brief review for the advances in the animal miRNA target prediction methods and available resources to facilitate further study of miRNAs and their functions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland