Complex diseases, whose phenotypic characteristics are controlled by multiple genes, are heterogeneous and associated with multiple biological molecules, including lncRNA, microRNA, and mRNA at the level of protein-coding genes.
Long non-codeing RNAs(lncRNAs) are an important category of non-coding RNA whose lengths are >200 nucleotides, with little or no protein-coding capacity. A large number of studies have shown that lncRNAs are involved in a variety of biological processes and various physiological and pathological processes.
Protein-coding genes, as the fundamental functional units in cells, can guide the synthesis of essential proteins through the process of transcription and translation, thereby influencing the physiological or pathological characteristics of organisms.
MicroRNAs, which participate in the regulation of post transcriptional gene expression in animals and plants, are a class of non-coding single stranded RNA molecules with a length of about 22 nt encoded by endogenous genes.
On the whole, lncRNAs, protein-coding genes and microRNAs are becoming critically important for the understanding of life sciences, especially diseases. The DisGeNet is a comprehensive interaction database among diseases and molecules covering lncRNAs, mRNAs and microRNAs. Currently, there are 5912 diseases, 1915 lncRNAs, 16065 protein-coding genes, 2611 microRNAs and 447382 interactions in DisGeNet.
Six different interaction types are involved in DisGeNet.