Recent Development of Bioinformatics Tools for microRNA Target Prediction

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are central players that regulate the post-transcriptional processes of gene expression. Binding of miRNAs to target mRNAs can repress their translation by inducing the degradation or by inhibiting the translation of the target mRNAs. Highthroughput experimental approaches for miRNA target identification are costly and timeconsuming, depending on various factors. It is vitally important to develop bioinformatics methods for accurately predicting miRNA targets. With the increase of RNA sequences in the post-genomic era, bioinformatics methods are being developed for miRNA studies especially for miRNA target prediction. This review summarizes the current development of state-of-the-art bioinformatics tools for miRNA target prediction, points out the progress and limitations of the available miRNA databases, and their working principles. Finally, we discuss the caveat and perspectives of the next-generation algorithms for the prediction of miRNA targets.