Improving gene regulatory network inference and assessment: The importance of using network structure

Abstract

Gene regulatory networks are graph models representing cellular transcription events. Networks are far from complete due to time and resource consumption for experimental validation and curation of the interactions. Previous assessments have shown the modest performance of the available network inference methods based on gene expression data. Here, we study several caveats on the inference of regulatory networks and methods assessment through the quality of the input data and gold standard, and the assessment approach with a focus on the global structure of the network. We used synthetic and biological data for the predictions and experimentally-validated networks as the gold standard. Standard performance metrics and graph structural properties suggest that methods inferring regulatory interactions should be assessed apart from those inferring co-expression networks. Inferring co-regulation networks and function-specific regulons is more accurate with the latter than with the former, which is better for inferring global regulatory networks. When merging expression data, the size increase should outweigh the noise inclusion and graph structure should be considered when integrating the inferences. We conclude with guidelines to take advantage of inference methods and their assessment based on the applications and available expression datasets.