Functional Classification of Differentially Expressed miRNAs

To identify the set of active biological pathways associated with the miRNAs and their target genes, we applied stringent statistical methods. The miRNA Enrichment Analysis and Annotation Tool (miEAA) was used to identify overrepresented ontological groups within the set of regulated miRNAs and to group them according to functional classifications [9]. The list of miRNAs identified by sRNA sequencing was used as the input for the analysis. The statistical significance analysis of miRNA enrichment was performed using the ORA algorithm as implemented in the miEAA online resources. Overrepresented categories were defined as having at least 10 miRNAs and an FDR adjusted p < 0.05.