# Combined Computational and Experimental Analyses of Gene Regulation by MicroRNAs

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2021 · $399,750

## Abstract

Project Summary
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of small non-coding RNA molecules that downregulate the
expression of their gene targets. Both computational and experimental studies have shown that
thousands of human protein-coding genes are regulated by miRNAs, and miRNAs are master
regulators of many important biological processes. Changes in miRNA expression can have
profound biological impacts, leading to a variety of human diseases. Due to their critical roles in
gene expression regulation, functional characterization of miRNAs has become one of the most
active research fields in biology in recent years.
 Despite rapid progress in miRNA research, one major obstacle in this field is the lack of
robust computational and experimental methods for functional miRNA analysis. Funded by this
NIGMS R01 grant over the past ten years, we have made significant progress and published
many methods on miRNA and gene expression studies. The methods we established have
been widely adopted by the scientific community. In particular, we have developed a miRNA
target prediction tool, miRDB, which has quickly become a major bioinformatics resource and
has been cited by thousands of publications. Moreover, we have developed innovative
experimental methods to manipulate the expression levels of miRNAs. Built on our recent
progress, we propose to perform combined computational and experimental analyses to
continue to develop cutting-edge technologies for miRNA studies. Our work is expected to exert
a significant impact in the miRNA field by providing valuable resources for functional miRNA
analysis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10199488
- **Project number:** 1R35GM141535-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Xiaowei Wang
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $399,750
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-07-01 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10199488

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10199488, Combined Computational and Experimental Analyses of Gene Regulation by MicroRNAs (1R35GM141535-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10199488. Licensed CC0.

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