Graph-based machine learning model for weight prediction in protein–protein networks

Proteins interact with each other in complex ways to perform significant biological functions. These interactions, known as protein-protein interactions (PPIs), can be depicted as a graph where proteins are nodes and their interactions are edges. The development of high-throughput experimental technologies allows for the generation of numerous data which permits increasing the sophistication of PPI models. However, despite significant progress, current PPI networks remain incomplete. Discovering missing interactions through experimental techniques can be costly, time-consuming, and challenging. Therefore, computational approaches have emerged as valuable tools for predicting missing interactions. In PPI networks, a graph is usually used to model the interactions between proteins. An edge between two proteins indicates a known interaction, while the absence of an edge means the interaction is not known or missed. However, this binary representation overlooks the reliability of known interactions when predicting new ones. To address this challenge, we propose a novel approach for link prediction in weighted protein-protein networks, where interaction weights denote confidence scores. By leveraging data from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae obtained from the STRING database, we introduce a new model that combines similarity-based algorithms and aggregated confidence score weights for accurate link prediction purposes. Our model significantly improves prediction accuracy, surpassing traditional approaches in terms of Mean Absolute Error, Mean Relative Absolute Error, and Root Mean Square Error. Our proposed approach holds the potential for improved accuracy in predicting PPIs, which is crucial for better understanding the underlying biological processes.