Voting-based integration algorithm improves causal network learning from interventional and observational data: An application to cell signaling network inference

PLoS One. 2021 Feb 8;16(2):e0245776. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245776. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

In order to increase statistical power for learning a causal network, data are often pooled from multiple observational and interventional experiments. However, if the direct effects of interventions are uncertain, multi-experiment data pooling can result in false causal discoveries. We present a new method, "Learn and Vote," for inferring causal interactions from multi-experiment datasets. In our method, experiment-specific networks are learned from the data and then combined by weighted averaging to construct a consensus network. Through empirical studies on synthetic and real-world datasets, we found that for most of the larger-sized network datasets that we analyzed, our method is more accurate than state-of-the-art network inference approaches.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Biomedical Research / methods*
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / metabolism
  • Computational Biology / methods*
  • Humans
  • Machine Learning*
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Neural Networks, Computer
  • Protein Interaction Maps
  • Signal Transduction*