One-class models for validation of miRNAs and ERBB2 gene interactions based on sequence features for breast cancer scenarios

Abstract

One challenge in miRNA–genes–diseases interaction studies is that it is challenging to find labeled data that indicate a positive or negative relationship between miRNA and genes. The use of one-class classification methods shows a promising path for validating them. We have applied two one-class classification methods, Isolation Forest and One-class SVM, to validate miRNAs interactions with the ERBB2 gene present in breast cancer scenarios using features extracted via sequence-binding. We found that the One-class SVM outperforms the Isolation Forest model, with values of sensitivity of 80.49% and a specificity of 86.49% showing results that are comparable to previous studies. Additionally, we have demonstrated that the use of features extracted from a sequence-based approach (considering miRNA and gene sequence binding characteristics) and one-class models have proven to be a feasible method for validating these genetic molecule interactions.

Keywords

• MiRNAs
• Breast cancer
• One-class models
• Unsupervised learning