A.O. Chiromatzo¹, T.Y.K. Oliveira¹, G. Pereira¹, A.Y. Costa², C.A.E. Montesco³, D.E. Gras¹,
F. Yosetake⁴, J.B. Vilar⁵, M. Cervato⁴, P.R.R. Prado¹, R.G.C.C.L. Cardenas⁴, R. Cerri⁶,
R.L. Borges⁴, R.N. Lemos⁴, S.M. Alvarenga⁷, V.R.C. Perallis⁶, D.G. Pinheiro¹, I.T. Silva¹,
R.M. Brandão¹, M.A.V. Cunha¹, S. Giuliatti¹ and W.A. Silva Jr^1
1Departamento de Genética, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil
²Departamento de Bioinformática, Universidade de Ribeirão Preto, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil
³Departamento de Física e Matemática, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil
⁴Departamento de Informática Biomédica, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil
⁵Departamento de Biologia Geral, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
⁶Departamento de Estatística, Matemática Aplicada e Computação, Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, SP, Brasil
⁷Instituto de Biotecnologia Aplicada à Agricultura, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brasil
Corresponding author: A.O. Chiromatzo
E-mail: [email protected]

Genet. Mol. Res. 6 (4): 859-865 (2007)
Received August 03, 2007
Accepted September 25, 2007
Published October 05, 2007

ABSTRACT. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate target gene expression and hence play important roles in metabolic pathways. Recent studies have evidenced the interrelation of miRNAs with cell proliferation, differentiation, development, and diseases. Since they are involved in gene regulation, they are intrinsically related to metabolic pathways. This leads to questions that are particularly interesting for investigating medical and laboratorial applications. We developed an miRNApath online database that uses miRNA target genes to link miRNAs to metabolic pathways. Currently, databases about miRNA target genes (DIANA miRGen), genomic maps (miRNAMap) and sequences (miRBase) do not provide such correlations. Additionally, miRNApath offers five search services and a download area. For each search, there is a specific type of input, which can be a list of target genes, miRNAs, or metabolic pathways, which results in different views, depending upon the input data, concerning relationships between the target genes, miRNAs and metabolic pathways. There are also internal links that lead to a deeper analysis and cross-links to other databases with more detailed information. miRNApath is being continually updated and is available at http://lgmb.fmrp.usp.br/mirnapath.

Key words: MicroRNA, Metabolic pathways, Target genes, Database, Interaction, Investigation