title: miRTarVis: an interactive visual analysis tool for microRNA-mRNA expression profile data.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  MicroRNAs (miRNA) are short nucleotides that down-regulate its target genes. Various miRNA target prediction algorithms have used sequence complementarity between miRNA and its targets. Recently, other algorithms tried to improve sequence-based miRNA target prediction by exploiting miRNA-mRNA expression profile data. Some web-based tools are also introduced to help researchers predict targets of miRNAs from miRNA-mRNA expression profile data. A demand for a miRNA-mRNA visual analysis tool that features novel miRNA prediction algorithms and more interactive visualization techniques exists.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We designed and implemented miRTarVis, which is an interactive visual analysis tool that predicts targets of miRNAs from miRNA-mRNA expression profile data and visualizes the resulting miRNA-target interaction network. miRTarVis has intuitive interface design in accordance with the analysis procedure of load, filter, predict, and visualize. It predicts targets of miRNA by adopting Bayesian inference and MINE analyses, as well as conventional correlation and mutual information analyses. It visualizes a resulting miRNA-mRNA network in an interactive Treemap, as well as a conventional node-link diagram. miRTarVis is available at http://hcil.snu.ac.kr/~rati/miRTarVis/index.html.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We reported findings from miRNA-mRNA expression profile data of asthma patients using miRTarVis in a case study. miRTarVis helps to predict and understand targets of miRNA from miRNA-mRNA expression profile data.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, 1, Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Daekyoung
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 300 Gumi-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
authors.forename: Bohyoung
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, D.C., USA ; Center for Genetic Medicine Research, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, D.C., USA ; Department of Integrative Systems Biology, George Washington University, 111 Michigan Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C., 20010-2970, USA.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Freishtat
authors.affiliation: Center for Genetic Medicine Research, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, D.C., USA.
authors.forename: Mamta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giri
authors.affiliation: Center for Genetic Medicine Research, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, D.C., USA ; Department of Integrative Systems Biology, George Washington University, 111 Michigan Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C., 20010-2970, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, 1, Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jinwook
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seo
keywords: Expression profile; MicroRNA; Target prediction; Visualization; mRNA