Briefing in family characteristics of microRNAs and their applications in cancer research

•We concluded the miRNA families classification methods and reviewed the shortcoming of the methods.•We introduced an improved classification method for miRNA families classification together with a friendly web server.•We discuss recent progress in miRNA family classification and as well briefing their potential applications in medicine.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous, short, non-coding RNA molecules that are directly involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Dysregulation of miRNAs is usually associated with diseases. Since miRNAs in a family intend to have common functional characteristics, proper assignment of miRNA family becomes heuristic for better understanding of miRNA nature and their potentials in clinic. In this review, we will briefly discuss the recent progress in miRNA research, particularly its impact on protein and its clinical application in cancer research in a view of miRNA family. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Computational Proteomics, Systems Biology & Clinical Implications. Guest Editor: Yudong Cai.