College of Pharmacy, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 156-756, Korea.
Exp Mol Med. 2010 Apr 30;42(4):233-44. doi: 10.3858/emm.2010.42.4.032.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small RNAs of 19-23 nucleotides that regulate gene expression through target mRNA degradation or translational gene silencing. The miRNAs are reported to be involved in many biological processes, and the discovery of miRNAs has been provided great impacts on computational biology as well as traditional biology. Most miRNA-associated computational methods comprise the prediction of miRNA genes and their targets, and increasing numbers of computational algorithms and web-based resources are being developed to fulfill the need of scientists performing miRNA research. Here we summarize the rules to predict miRNA targets and introduce some computational algorithms that have been developed for miRNA target prediction and the application of the methods. In addition, the issue of target gene validation in an experimental way will be discussed.
微小 RNA（miRNAs）是一类长度为 19-23 个核苷酸的小 RNA，通过靶 mRNA 降解或翻译基因沉默来调节基因表达。报道称，miRNAs 参与许多生物过程，miRNAs 的发现对计算生物学和传统生物学都产生了巨大影响。大多数 miRNA 相关的计算方法包括 miRNA 基因及其靶标的预测，并且越来越多的计算算法和基于网络的资源正在被开发出来，以满足从事 miRNA 研究的科学家的需求。在这里，我们总结了 miRNA 靶标的预测规则，并介绍了一些已经开发出来用于 miRNA 靶标预测的计算算法及其方法的应用。此外，还将讨论通过实验方法验证靶基因的问题。
