ABSTRACT
microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that actively fine-tune gene expression. The accurate characterization of the mechanisms underlying miRNA transcription regulation will further expand our knowledge regarding their implication in homeostatic and pathobiological networks. Aim of DIANA-miRGen v3.0 (http://www.microrna.gr/mirgen) is to provide for the first time accurate cell-line-specific miRNA gene transcription start sites (TSSs), coupled with genome-wide maps of transcription factor (TF) binding sites in order to unveil the mechanisms of miRNA transcription regulation. To this end, more than 7.3 billion RNA-, ChIP- and DNase-Seq next generation sequencing reads were analyzed/assembled and combined with state-of-the-art miRNA TSS prediction and TF binding site identification algorithms. The new database schema and web interface facilitates user interaction, provides advanced queries and innate connection with other DIANA resources for miRNA target identification and pathway analysis. The database currently supports 276 miRNA TSSs that correspond to 428 precursors and >19M binding sites of 202 TFs on a genome-wide scale in nine cell-lines and six tissues of Homo sapiens and Mus musculus.
Subject(s)
Databases, Nucleic Acid , MicroRNAs/genetics , Promoter Regions, Genetic , Animals , Binding Sites , Cell Line , Gene Expression Regulation , Humans , Mice , Transcription Factors/metabolism , Transcription Initiation SiteABSTRACT
microRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNA species, which act as potent gene expression regulators. Accurate identification of miRNA targets is crucial to understanding their function. Currently, hundreds of thousands of miRNA:gene interactions have been experimentally identified. However, this wealth of information is fragmented and hidden in thousands of manuscripts and raw next-generation sequencing data sets. DIANA-TarBase was initially released in 2006 and it was the first database aiming to catalog published experimentally validated miRNA:gene interactions. DIANA-TarBase v7.0 (http://www.microrna.gr/tarbase) aims to provide for the first time hundreds of thousands of high-quality manually curated experimentally validated miRNA:gene interactions, enhanced with detailed meta-data. DIANA-TarBase v7.0 enables users to easily identify positive or negative experimental results, the utilized experimental methodology, experimental conditions including cell/tissue type and treatment. The new interface provides also advanced information ranging from the binding site location, as identified experimentally as well as in silico, to the primer sequences used for cloning experiments. More than half a million miRNA:gene interactions have been curated from published experiments on 356 different cell types from 24 species, corresponding to 9- to 250-fold more entries than any other relevant database. DIANA-TarBase v7.0 is freely available.
