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MicroRNAs, Regulatory Networks, and Comorbidities: Decoding Complex Systems

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MicroRNA Detection and Target Identification

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1580))

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs involved in the posttranscriptional regulation of messenger RNAs (mRNAs). Each miRNA targets a specific set of mRNAs. Upon binding the miRNA inhibits mRNA translation or facilitate mRNA degradation. miRNAs are frequently deregulated in several pathologies including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Since miRNAs have a crucial role in fine-tuning the expression of their targets, they have been proposed as biomarkers of disease progression and prognostication.

In this chapter we discuss different approaches for computational predictions of miRNA targets based on sequence complementarity and integration of expression data. In the last section of the chapter we discuss new opportunities in the study of miRNA regulatory networks in the context of temporal disease progression and comorbidities.

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Acknowledgments

Francesco Russo has been supported by a fellowship sponsored by Progetto Istituto Toscano Tumori-Grant 2012 Prot. A00GRT. Novo Nordisk Foundation (grant agreement NNF14CC0001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3, 2200, København N, Bygning 6, Denmark

    Francesco Russo, Kirstine Belling, Anders Boeck Jensen & Søren Brunak

  2. Biotech Research & Innovation Centre (BRIC), University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Flavia Scoyni

  3. Institute of Informatics and Telematics, National Research Council (CNR), Pisa, Italy

    Marco Pellegrini

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  1. Francesco Russo
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  2. Kirstine Belling
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  3. Anders Boeck Jensen
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  4. Flavia Scoyni
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  5. Søren Brunak
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  6. Marco Pellegrini
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesco Russo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom

    Tamas Dalmay

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Russo, F., Belling, K., Jensen, A.B., Scoyni, F., Brunak, S., Pellegrini, M. (2017). MicroRNAs, Regulatory Networks, and Comorbidities: Decoding Complex Systems. In: Dalmay, T. (eds) MicroRNA Detection and Target Identification. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1580. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6866-4_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6866-4_19

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