Python

microRNAs and microRNA-independent RNA-binding proteins are 2 classes of post-transcriptional regulators that have been shown to cooperate in gene-expression regulation. We compared the genome-wide target sets of microRNAs and RBPs identified by recent CLIP-Seq technologies, finding that RBPs have distinct target sets and favor gene interaction network hubs. To identify microRNAs and RBPs with a similar functional context, we developed simiRa, a tool that compares enriched functional categories such as pathways and GO terms.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are functional RNA molecules which play important roles in the post-transcriptional regulation. miRNAs regulate their target genes by repressing translation or inducing degradation of the target genes' mRNAs. Many databases have been constructed to provide computationally predicted miRNA targets. However, they cannot provide the miRNA targets expressed in a specific tissue and related to a specific disease at the same time. Moreover, they cannot provide the common targets of multiple miRNAs and the common miRNAs of multiple genes at the same time.

BACKGROUND: In many cancers, microRNAs (miRs) contribute to metastatic progression by modulating phenotypic reprogramming processes such as epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity. This can be driven by miRs targeting multiple mRNA transcripts, inducing regulated changes across large sets of genes. The miR-target databases TargetScan and DIANA-microT predict putative relationships by examining sequence complementarity between miRs and mRNAs.

Micro RNAs (miRNAs), important regulators of cell function, can be interrogated by high-throughput sequencing in a rapid and cost-effective manner. However, the tremendous amount of data generated by such methods is not easily analyzed. In order to extract meaningful information and draw biological conclusions from miRNA data, many challenges in quality control, alignment, normalization, and analysis must be overcome. Typically, these would only be possible with the dedicated efforts of a specialized computational biologist for a sustained period of time.