A semi-supervised approach for the integration of multi-omics data based on transformer multi-head self-attention mechanism and graph convolutional networks

Abstract

Background and objectives Comprehensive analysis of multi-omics data is crucial for accurately formulating effective treatment plans for complex diseases. Supervised ensemble methods have gained popularity in recent years for multi-omics data analysis. However, existing research based on supervised learning algorithms often fails to fully harness the information from unlabeled nodes and overlooks the latent features within and among different omics, as well as the various associations among features. Here, we present a novel multi-omics integrative method MOSEGCN, based on the Transformer multi-head self-attention mechanism and Graph Convolutional Networks(GCN), with the aim of enhancing the accuracy of complex disease classification. MOSEGCN first employs the Transformer multi-head self-attention mechanism and Similarity Network Fusion (SNF) to separately learn the inherent correlations of latent features within and among different omics, constructing a comprehensive view of diseases. Subsequently, it feeds the learned crucial information into a self-ensembling Graph Convolutional Network (SEGCN) built upon semi-supervised learning methods for training and testing, facilitating a better analysis and utilization of information from multi-omics data to achieve precise classification of disease subtypes. Results The experimental results show that MOSEGCN outperforms several state-of-the-art multi-omics integrative analysis approaches on three types of omics data: mRNA expression data, microRNA expression data, and DNA methylation data, with accuracy rates of 83.0% for Alzheimer's disease and 86.7% for breast cancer subtyping. Furthermore, MOSEGCN exhibits strong generalizability on the GBM dataset, enabling the identification of important biomarkers for related diseases. Conclusion MOSEGCN explores the significant relationship information among different omics and within each omics' latent features, effectively leveraging labeled and unlabeled information to further enhance the accuracy of complex disease classification. It also provides a promising approach for identifying reliable biomarkers, paving the way for personalized medicine.