Computational prediction of chicken pre-microRNA

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a small single strand non-coding RNA with ~22 nucleotides (nts) which can regulate gene expression. MiRNAs are generated from a ~60-70 nts long hairpin shapped pre-miRNA which is a product of the cleavage of primary miRNA. The slow pace of the identification of novel miRNA by laboratory experiment has raised the importance of computational method. Three major programs ProMir, ERPIN, and MiR-abela were tested for known chicken pre-miRNA. ProMir, ERPIN and MiR-abela detected 53%, 93% and 57% respectively where ERPIN only has 25% of the chicken miRNA classes available. Thus, novel computational approach miR-Explore is introduced which was demonstrated to have 89% sensitivity in identifying known chicken pre-miRNA.