Nearly two decades have passed since the publication of the first study reporting the discovery of microRNAs （miRNAs）. The key role of miRNAs in post-transcriptional gene regulation led to the performance of an incr...Nearly two decades have passed since the publication of the first study reporting the discovery of microRNAs （miRNAs）. The key role of miRNAs in post-transcriptional gene regulation led to the performance of an increasing number of studies focusing on origins, mech- anisms of action and functionality of miRNAs. In order to associate each miRNA to a specific functionality it is essential to unveil the rules that govern miRNA action. Despite the fact that there has been significant improvement exposing structural characteristics of the miRNA-mRNA interaction, the entire physical mechanism is not yet fully understood. In this respect, the development of computa- tional algorithms for miRNA target prediction becomes increasingly important. This manuscript summarizes the research done on miRNA target prediction. It describes the experimental data currently available and used in the field and presents three lines of compu tational approaches for target prediction. Finally, the authors put forward a number of considerations regarding current challenges and future directions.展开更多
文摘Nearly two decades have passed since the publication of the first study reporting the discovery of microRNAs （miRNAs）. The key role of miRNAs in post-transcriptional gene regulation led to the performance of an increasing number of studies focusing on origins, mech- anisms of action and functionality of miRNAs. In order to associate each miRNA to a specific functionality it is essential to unveil the rules that govern miRNA action. Despite the fact that there has been significant improvement exposing structural characteristics of the miRNA-mRNA interaction, the entire physical mechanism is not yet fully understood. In this respect, the development of computa- tional algorithms for miRNA target prediction becomes increasingly important. This manuscript summarizes the research done on miRNA target prediction. It describes the experimental data currently available and used in the field and presents three lines of compu tational approaches for target prediction. Finally, the authors put forward a number of considerations regarding current challenges and future directions.
