Gene set enrichment analysis: A genome-wide expression profile-based strategy for discovering functional microRNA–disease relationships

Objective To explore stable and functional microRNA (miRNA)–disease relationships using a genome-wide expression profile pattern matching strategy.Methods We applied the ranked microarray pattern matching strategy Gene Set Enrichment Analysis to identify miRNA permutations with similar expression patterns to diseases. We also used quantitative reverse transcription PCR to validate the predicted expression levels of miRNAs in three diseases: inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), oesophageal cancer, and colorectal cancer.Results We found that hsa-miR-200 c was upregulated more than 40-fold in oesophageal cancer. The expression of miR-16 and miR-124 was not consistently upregulated in IBD or colorectal cancer.Conclusions Our results suggest that this expression profile matching strategy can be used to identify functional miRNA–disease relationships.