Introduction

SmiRN-AD (Small molecule and miRNA association Network in Alzheimer's Disease) is a free online database about the associations between bioactive small molecules and AD-related miRNAs, which are identified based on the expression signatures of the bioactive small molecules perturbations and AD-related miRNAs regulations. Using the SmiRN-AD, the researchers can obtain the following information:

1) The significantly positive and negative associations between bioactive small molecules and miRNAs in AD at the user defined significance level.

2) The basic information about the AD-related miRNAs, such as the structures and the differential target genes in AD.

3) The basic information about the small molecules, such as the structures and the Drugbank ID.

4) The heat map, bar chart and significance of differential target genes of the AD-related miRNAs in nine case-control study separately.

5) The visualization of the small molecule and miRNA associations for the user inputted miRNAs or small molecules.

SmiRN-AD can facilitate the researchers to develop the novel miRNA-targeted drug candidates and drug repositioning for AD.

Notes: SmiRN-AD supports most web browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome) but is most optimized for Internet Explore. Usage examples in help page are implemented in Internet Explore. Some of the functions may not work with Google Chrome.

Citation: Meng F, Dai E, Yu X, Zhang Y, Chen X, Liu X, Wang S, Wang L, Jiang W. 2014 Constructing and characterizing a bioactive small molecule and microRNA association network for Alzheimer’s disease. J. R. Soc. Interface 11: 20131057.