title: Advances in the techniques for the prediction of microRNA targets.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 225 North Avenue NW, Atlanta, GA 30301, USA. chenhb@stu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Rongguo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Jin-Tao
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qinyou
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Haibin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Shi-Wen
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030561:Databases, Nucleic Acid; D057890:Epigenomics / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D005821:Genetic Techniques / Q000639:trends; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D012333:RNA, Messenger