DualRank: multiplex network-based dual ranking for heterogeneous complex disease analysis

Analysis of heterogeneous complex diseases based on the expression of biomarkers has always been the focus of medical research. In the past studies, the powerful network propagation has been applied in finding marker genes related to specific diseases. However, the network propagation model largely depends on the reliability and integrity of the network data, current networks may cause some problems due to the incompleteness of the networks. In this study, we developed a multiplex network-based dual ranking framework (DualRank) for heterogeneous complex disease analysis. We applied the proposed method to heterogeneous complex diseases for disease diagnosis, cancer prognosis, and similar disease classification. The results showed that DualRank outperformed current methods and could identify biomarkers with small quantity, strong prediction accuracy and biological interpretability.