Cited by 240Computational Drug Discovery MethodsMachine Learning in Materials ScienceAdvanced Chemical Physics Studies

Demystifying Multitask Deep Neural Networks for Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationships

Xu, Yuting, Ma, Junshui, Liaw, Andy, Sheridan, Robert P., Svetnik, Vladimir·2017·Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling

Abstract

Deep neural networks (DNNs) are complex computational models that have found great success in many artificial intelligence applications, such as computer vision1,2 and natural language processing.3,4 In the past four years, DNNs have also generated promising results for quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) tasks.5,6 Previous work showed that DNNs can routinely make better predictions than traditional methods, such as random forests, on a diverse collection of QSAR data sets. It was also found that multitask DNN models-those trained on and predicting multiple QSAR properties simultaneously-outperform DNNs trained separately on the individual data sets in many, but not all, tasks. To date there has been no satisfactory explanation of why the QSAR of one task embedded in a multitask DNN can borrow information from other unrelated QSAR tasks. Thus, using multitask DNNs in a way that consistently provides a predictive advantage becomes a challenge. In this work, we explored why multitask DNNs make a difference in predictive performance. Our results show that during prediction a multitask DNN does borrow "signal" from molecules with similar structures in the training sets of the other tasks. However, whether this borrowing leads to better or worse predictive performance depends on whether the activities are correlated. On the basis of this, we have developed a strategy to use multitask DNNs that incorporate prior domain knowledge to select training sets with correlated activities, and we demonstrate its effectiveness on several examples.

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  • Improvement from multi-task modeling relies on the training set for activities sharing similar compounds and features, and significant correlations between activities.

    “It has been shown that improvement relies on the training set for the activities sharing similar compounds and features, and there being significant correlations between the activities.70”

    From QSAR without borders (2020) · cites this paper as [70]

  • The effect of multi-task modeling on average is modest, with both improvements and degradations in prediction for individual activities.

    “In practice, this effect can be quite modest, exhibiting both improvements and degradations in prediction for individual activities.”

    From QSAR without borders (2020) · cites this paper as [70]

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Authors
Xu, Y., Ma, J., Liaw, A., Sheridan, R. P., & Svetnik, V.
Affiliations
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA (United States) (US)
Corresponding author
Xu, Yuting
Venue
Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling
Published
2017-10-02
Volume
57
Issue
10
Pages
2490-2504
ISSN
  • 1549-9596 (ISSN-L)
  • 1549-960X
OpenAlex
W2751756351
Cited by
238
References
41
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 1
FWCI
17.67
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computational Theory and Mathematics › Computational Drug Discovery Methods
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Machine Learning in Materials Science
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Advanced Chemical Physics Studies
Keywords
QSAR, training data selection, domain knowledge integration, predictive performance
MeSH terms
Artificial Intelligence, Computer Simulation, Models, Chemical, Proteins, Drug Delivery Systems, Neural Networks, Computer, Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship

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