Use of in silico approaches to complement in vitro and in vivo model systems led to the: (1) establishment of a miR and mRNA global profile of colitis-associated dysplastic lesions in mice with AOM/DSS-induced colitis-associated colon cancer; (2) assessment of the biological function of miR-1 in vitro; (3) prediction of relevant miR target genes for validation; and (4) discovery of an interaction between miR-1 and the 3′UTR of Cdk6. The gene discussed is CDK6; the disease is malignant colon neoplasm.