Next generation sequencing for profiling expression of miRNAs: technical progress and applications in drug development.

miRNAs are non-coding RNAs that play a regulatory role in expression of genes and are associated with diseases. Quantitatively measuring expression levels of miRNAs can help in understanding the mechanisms of human diseases and discovering new drug targets. There are three major methods that have been used to measure the expression levels of miRNAs: real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR), microarray, and the newly introduced next-generation sequencing (NGS). NGS is not only suitable for profiling of known miRNAs as qRT-PCR and microarray can do too but it also is able to detect unknown miRNAs which the other two methods are incapable of doing. Profiling of miRNAs by NGS has progressed rapidly and is a promising field for applications in drug development. This paper reviews the technical advancement of NGS for profiling miRNAs, including comparative analyses between different platforms and software packages for analyzing NGS data. Examples and future perspectives of applications of NGS profiling miRNAs in drug development will be discussed.