MMFmiRLocEL: A multi-model fusion and ensemble learning approach for identifying miRNA subcellular localization using RNA structure language model

MiRNA subcellular localizations (MSLs) are essential for uncovering and understanding miRNA functions in various biological processes. Several computational methods have been proposed for measuring MSL. However, existing methods only rely on manually crafted features based on sequence without considering RNA 3D structure information, and most methods often rely on single-model approaches, which fail to capture the full complexity of biological systems, further hindering predictive accuracy and performance. In this study, we introduce a deep learning-based approach, MMFmiRLocEL, which integrates multi-model fusion and ensemble learning for MSL identification. To the best of our knowledge, MMFmiRLocEL is the first method to combine sequence, structure, and function three information for MSL prediction. Specifically, it employs RNA 3D structure generated by the predicted structural model to construct a structure-based approach for MSL prediction. It also develops a sequence-based prediction method using sequence features and convolutional neural networks, while constructing a function-based prediction method using miRNA-disease association networks and deep residual neural networks. Furthermore, a multi-model fusion approach, employing weighted ensemble strategies, integrates sequence, structure, and function models to enhance the robustness and accuracy of MSL identification. Experimental results demonstrate that MMFmiRLocEL outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods, and then ablation analysis confirmed the significant contribution of the multi-model fusion mechanism to improve the prediction performance.