Contribution of bioinformatics prediction in microRNA-based cancer therapeutics

Abstract

Despite enormous efforts, cancer remains one of the most lethal diseases in the world. With the advancement of high throughput technologies massive amounts of cancer data can be accessed and analyzed. Bioinformatics provides a platform to assist biologists in developing minimally invasive biomarkers to detect cancer, and in designing effective personalized therapies to treat cancer patients. Still, the early diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cancer are an open challenge for the research community. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that serve to regulate gene expression. The discovery of deregulated miRNAs in cancer cells and tissues has led many to investigate the use of miRNAs as potential biomarkers for early detection, and as a therapeutic agent to treat cancer. Here we describe advancements in computational approaches to predict miRNAs and their targets, and discuss the role of bioinformatics in studying miRNAs in the context of human cancer.

Keywords: Bioinformatics; Computational model; MiRNAs; MicroRNAs; Pancreatic cancer; Therapy.

Figure 1

miRNA biogenesis: miRNA genes are transcribed in the nucleus, and undergo subsequent processing by the endonucleases Drosha and Dicer to produce a duplex comprised of mature miRNA and its antisense strand (miRNA*). The mature miRNA strand is incorporated into the ribonucleoprotein complex (RISC), which mediates interaction with the target mRNA and mRNA silencing, either through mRNA (messenger RNA) cleavage or translational repression (Adopted from [27]).