Bioinformatics tools for lncRNA research

Current experimental methods to identify the functions of a large number of the candidates of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are limited in their throughput. Therefore, it is essential to know which tools are effective for understanding lncRNAs so that reasonable speed and accuracy can be achieved. In this paper, we review the currently available bioinformatics tools and databases that are useful for finding non-coding RNAs and analyzing their structures, conservation, interactions, co-expressions and localization. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Clues to long noncoding RNA taxonomy1, edited by Dr. Tetsuro Hirose and Dr. Shinichi Nakagawa.