microRNA(miRNA)是一类约22个核苷酸(nt)长的非编码小分子RNA,广泛存在于动植物细胞中,通过和靶基因的不精确互补配对而裂解mRNA或抑制翻译的起始。准确地预测miRNA靶基因和正确地认识miRNA及其靶基因的作用机理已成为当前研究的热点。作者试图对目前常用的10余个高等生物miRNA靶基因预测软件的实现原理、适用对象及各算法的创新之处等加以综述,以便为进行靶基因预测算法设计人员提供参考,对生物学实验验证提供更好的理论指导。
MicroRNAs(miRNAs) are a new class of 22nt long small noncoding RNA species in plants and animals, which cleavage the mRNA or repress the initiation of the mRNA translation by partially base pairing with the targets in animals. Predicting the targets of miRNAs and investigating the interaction between miRNAs and the corresponding targets are becoming the study focus. Here, we reviewed the principles, creativities and application ranges of the 10 leading miRNA target prediction algorithms including miRanda, PicTar and so on, in order to assist the biologist and other miRNA researchers.