Table 1

Prediction Target Tool	Web Site	Algorithm used
miRanda	www.microrna.org	The alignment score is the sum of match and mismatch scores, including G:U wobbles and gap penalties. The degree of evolutionary conservation is considered.
TargetScan	www.targetscan.org	Applies an alignment score for W-C base-pairing in the seed sequence and beyond it. Recognizes a conserved adenosine at the first position and/or a W-C match at position 8. Considers three degree of conservation.
PicTar	www.pictar.mdc-berlin.de	Considers a perfect W-C base paired 7 nucleotides seed (1-7 or 2-8)allowing mismatches if the free binding energy does not increase, the binding energy of the entire miRNA-mRNA duplex, and the degree of conservation of targeted sites between all the species

Table 1: The most widely utilized engines for computational miRNA prediction target.