Wang Yingying, Cai Yunpeng
Brief Funct Genomics. 2017 May 1;16(3):146-151. doi: 10.1093/bfgp/elw015.
The relationships between microRNAs (miRNAs) and diseases are garnering greater interest in the biological research fields. Recently, miRNA-disease databases have emerged as powerful tools for bioinformatics studies of these relationships. However, guidelines for comparing the features of this type of database have not yet been established. In this article, the details of popular miRNA-disease databases are analyzed, and their features are compared from several different aspects, including database scale, disease classification, miRNA targets, miRNA detection technique, miRNA regulation, quantitative scores, study design and tissue/cell lines. Then, guidelines for choosing a suitable database for specific research interests are provided. This survey will guide computational biology or biological researchers as well as medical and clinical researchers in making better use of miRNA-disease data resources.
微小RNA（miRNA）与疾病之间的关系在生物学研究领域正引起越来越多的关注。最近，miRNA-疾病数据库已成为研究这些关系的生物信息学有力工具。然而，尚无比较这类数据库特征的指导原则。本文分析了流行的miRNA-疾病数据库的详细信息，并从几个不同方面比较了它们的特征，包括数据库规模、疾病分类、miRNA靶点、miRNA检测技术、miRNA调控、定量评分、研究设计以及组织/细胞系。然后，提供了针对特定研究兴趣选择合适数据库的指导原则。这项调查将指导计算生物学或生物学研究人员以及医学和临床研究人员更好地利用miRNA-疾病数据资源。
