MirCure

MirCure performs quality control, scoring, and curation of microRNA (miRNA) annotations to distinguish true miRNAs from false positives in animal and plant species.

Key Features:

• Automated scoring: Computes a comprehensive reliability score for each miRNA candidate.
• Evidence integration: Evaluates candidates using gene expression levels, biogenesis pathway signals, and conservation across species.
• Arm-specific curation: Adjusts 5p and 3p annotations based on user-supplied small RNA-seq data.
• Manual curation support: Enables inspection and manual curation of supporting evidence for candidate miRNAs.
• Validation benchmarking: Performance has been assessed against manually curated animal and plant miRNA sets.
• Reannotation capability: Supports reassessment and enhancement of previously established miRNA annotations.

Scientific Applications:

• miRNA database quality control: Filter and discard poorly supported miRNA annotations in public and private databases.
• Annotation refinement: Refine and correct 5p/3p arm annotations using small RNA-seq evidence.
• Cross-species assessment: Use conservation evidence to support miRNA annotation across animal and plant species.

Methodology:

Automated scoring of miRNA candidates using gene expression levels, biogenesis pathway evidence, and conservation; arm-specific adjustment using small RNA-seq data; and validation against manually curated miRNA sets.