A survey on database resources for microRNA–disease relationships

The relationships between microRNAs (miRNAs) and diseases are garnering greater interest in the biological research fields. Recently, miRNA-disease databases have emerged as powerful tools for bioinformatics studies of these relationships. However, guidelines for comparing the features of this type of database have not yet been established. In this article, the details of popular miRNA-disease databases are analyzed, and their features are compared from several different aspects, including database scale, disease classification, miRNA targets, miRNA detection technique, miRNA regulation, quantitative scores, study design and tissue/cell lines. Then, guidelines for choosing a suitable database for specific research interests are provided. This survey will guide computational biology or biological researchers as well as medical and clinical researchers in making better use of miRNA-disease data resources.