Published in

Humana Press, Methods in Molecular Biology, p. 361-373, 2014

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-1062-5_28

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Comprehensive Meta-analysis of MicroRNA Expression Using a Robust Rank Aggregation Approach

Journal article published in 2014 by Urmo Võsa, Raivo Kolde ORCID, Jaak Vilo ORCID, Andres Metspalu, Tarmo Annilo ORCID
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Differential microRNA (miRNA) expression profiling by high-throughput methods has generated a vast amount of information about the complex role of these small regulatory molecules in a broad spectrum of human diseases. However, the results of such studies are often inconsistent, mostly due to the lack of cross-platform standardization, ongoing discovery of novel miRNAs, and small sample size. Therefore, a critical and systematic analysis of all available information is essential for successful identification of the most relevant miRNAs. Meta-analysis approach allows integrating the results from several independent studies in order to achieve greater statistical power and estimate the variability between the studies. Here we describe as an example the use of a robust rank aggregation (RRA) method for identification of miRNA meta-signature in lung cancer. This method analyzes prioritized gene lists and finds commonly overlapping genes, which are ranked consistently better than expected by chance. An RRA approach not only helps to prioritize the putative targets for further experimental studies but also highlights the challenges related with the development of miRNA-based tests and emphasizes the need for rigorous evaluation of the results before proceeding to clinical trials.