Inferring single nucleotide polymorphisms in microRNA binding sites of lung cancer-related inflammatory genes

Single nucleotide polymorphisms located at microRNA (miRNA)-binding sites are likely to affect the expression of miRNA targets and may contribute to the susceptibility of humans to common diseases. Here 335 candidate lung cancer-related inflammatory genes were selected according to the existing literature and database. We identified putative miRNA-binding sites of 149 genes by specialised algorithms and screened SNPs in the 3'UTRs of these genes. By calculating binding free energy, we sorted 269 SNPs on the basis of the possibility of prediction. The proposed approach could help to easy the identification of functionally relevant SNPs and minimize the workflow and the costs.