LncRNADisease: a database for long-non-coding RNA-associated diseases

In this article, we describe a long-non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and disease association database (LncRNADisease), which is publicly accessible at http://cmbi.bjmu.edu.cn/lncrnadisease. In recent years, a large number of lncRNAs have been identified and increasing evidence shows that lncRNAs play critical roles in various biological processes. Therefore, the dysfunctions of lncRNAs are associated with a wide range of diseases. It thus becomes important to understand lncRNAs' roles in diseases and to identify candidate lncRNAs for disease diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. For this purpose, a high-quality lncRNA-disease association database would be extremely beneficial. Here, we describe the LncRNADisease database that collected and curated approximately 480 entries of experimentally supported lncRNA-disease associations, including 166 diseases. LncRNADisease also curated 478 entries of lncRNA interacting partners at various molecular levels, including protein, RNA, miRNA and DNA. Moreover, we annotated lncRNA-disease associations with genomic information, sequences, references and species. We normalized the disease name and the type of lncRNA dysfunction and provided a detailed description for each entry. Finally, we developed a bioinformatic method to predict novel lncRNA-disease associations and integrated the method and the predicted associated diseases of 1564 human lncRNAs into the database.