title: Genetic algorithm-based efficient feature selection for classification of pre-miRNAs.
abstract: In order to classify the real/pseudo human precursor microRNA (pre-miRNAs) hairpins with ab initio methods, numerous features are extracted from the primary sequence and second structure of pre-miRNAs. However, they include some redundant and useless features. It is essential to select the most representative feature subset; this contributes to improving the classification accuracy. We propose a novel feature selection method based on a genetic algorithm, according to the characteristics of human pre-miRNAs. The information gain of a feature, the feature conservation relative to stem parts of pre-miRNA, and the redundancy among features are all considered. Feature conservation was introduced for the first time. Experimental results were validated by cross-validation using datasets composed of human real/pseudo pre-miRNAs. Compared with microPred, our classifier miPredGA, achieved more reliable sensitivity and specificity. The accuracy was improved nearly 12%. The feature selection algorithm is useful for constructing more efficient classifiers for identification of real human pre-miRNAs from pseudo hairpins.
authors.affiliation: School of Computer Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang, PR China.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xuan
authors.forename: M Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: X Y
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001483:Base Sequence; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D055029:Inverted Repeat Sequences / Q000235:genetics*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012322:RNA Precursors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D012322:RNA Precursors