Citazione:

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The miRWalk algorithm is based on a computational approach which is written in Perl programming language to identify multiple consecutive Watson–Crick complementary subsequences between miRNA and gene sequences as described in Fig. 1 (Predicted Target module). miRWalk algorithm searches for seeds based on Watson–Crick complementarity, walking on the complete sequence of a gene starting with a heptamer (seven nucleotides) seed from positionS 1 and 2 of miRNA sequences. As soon as it identifies a heptamer perfect base-pairing, it immediately extends the length of the miRNA seed until a mismatch arises. It then returns all possible hits with 7 or longer matches. These binding sites are then separated on the basis of their identified locations (start, and end positions and regions) in the analyzed sequences. Then it assigns the prediction results in five parts, according to promoter region, 5#8242;-UTR, coding sequence (CDS), and 3#8242;-UTR and mitochondrial genes. In addition, the probability distribution of random matches of a subsequence (5#8242; end miRNA sequence) in the analyzed sequence is calculated by using a Poisson distribution [20]. It can be expected that the longer perfect complementation of a seed is associated with a lower probability, thus the higher are the chances of an effective miRNA-target interaction.

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