miRmine: a database of human miRNA expression profiles

Area of Science:

• Genomics
• Molecular Biology
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators of gene expression.
• Vast amounts of RNA-sequencing data necessitate efficient miRNA analysis tools.
• Current miRNA quantification pipelines are still developing, impacting data interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a user-friendly database for accessing and analyzing miRNA expression profiles.
• To consolidate and present miRNA expression data from public repositories.
• To facilitate the study of miRNA roles in normal and diseased states.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 304 high-quality microRNA sequencing (miRNA-seq) datasets from NCBI-SRA.
• Calculated miRNA expression profiles for diverse tissues and cell lines.
• Developed the miRmine database for querying and visualizing expression data.

Main Results:

• Identified an average of over 500 miRNAs with >5x coverage per dataset.
• Determined the top five highly expressed miRNAs in various tissues and cell lines.
• miRmine offers interactive, graphical, and downloadable expression profiles for single or multiple miRNAs.

Conclusions:

• miRmine serves as a valuable resource for exploring miRNA expression patterns.
• The database supports research into miRNA functions across different biological contexts.
• Facilitates the comprehensive utilization of public miRNA sequencing data.