Using miRNA expression data for the study of human cancer

Aim. Mature microRNAs (miRNAs) belong to a very large group of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression. miRNAs are differentially expressed in human cancers, such as colorectal neoplasia, pediatric Burkitt lymphoma, lung cancer, large cell lymphoma, glioblastoma and B-cell lymphomas. We systematically employed a microarray platform containing probes for mature miRNA as well as precursor molecules, to investigate the miRNA profiles in hematological and solid cancers. Methods. We dealt with miRNAs profiling in a large number of human tissues and tumors to identify specific signature of miRNAs. The microarrays results were verified with the TaqMan Array Human MicroRNA Panel v1.0 (Early Access) in conjunction with Multiplex RT. To efficiently mine data from thousands of miRNA experiments we developed a specialized bioinformatic system. Results. We characterized novel miRNAs and determined the changes which underline tumorigenesis from normal precursors to cancer and from primary to metastatic tumors. We designed and built the AdmiR MySQL database and a JAVA interface for the management and analysis of miRNome in human tissues. The more than 8 000 miRNA chips stored and annotated in the system allow us to investigate the association of miRNA with prognosis and survival across different types of tumors and patients’ groups. Conclusion. The expression data in AdmiR indicate that

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