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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are single-stranded non-coding RNAs shown to plays important regulatory roles in a wide range of biological processes and diseases. The functions and regulatory mechanisms of most of miRNAs are still poorly understood in part because of the difficulty in identifying the miRNA regulatory targets. To this end, computational methods have evolved as important tools for genome-wide target screening.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in tumorigenesis and development through their effects on target genes. The characterization of miRNA-gene interactions will lead to a better understanding of cancer mechanisms. Many computational methods have been developed to infer miRNA targets with/without expression data. Because expression datasets are in general limited in size, most existing methods concatenate datasets from multiple studies to form one aggregated dataset to increase sample size and power.

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most frequently diagnosed gynecological malignancy and the fourth most common cancer diagnosis overall among women. As with many other forms of cancer, it has been shown that certain miRNAs are differentially expressed in EC and these miRNAs are believed to play important roles as regulators of processes involved in the development of the disease.

Non-coding RNA transcripts such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important genetic regulators. However, the functions of many of these transcripts are still not clearly understood. Recently, it has become apparent that there is significant crosstalk between miRNAs and lncRNAs and that this creates competition for binding between the miRNA, a lncRNA and other regulatory targets. Indeed, various competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) have already been identified where a lncRNA acts by sequestering miRNAs.