Exploring the potential microRNA sponge interactions of breast cancer based on some known interactions

MicroRNA (miRNA) sponges' regulatory mechanisms play an important role in developing human cancer. Herein, we develop a new method to explore potential miRNA sponge interactions (EPMSIs) for breast cancer. Based on some known interactions, and a matching gene expression profile, EPMSIs explored other potential miRNA sponge interactions for breast cancer. Every interaction is inferred with a value representing interaction intensity. Then, we apply a clustering algorithm called BCPlaid to potential interactions. Ten modules are identified; nine of them are closely associated with biological enrichments. When we employ a classification algorithm to separate normal and tumor samples in each module, each module demonstrates powerful classification performance. Furthermore, EPMSI illustrates a new method to explore the miRNA sponge regulatory network for breast cancer by applying its superior performance.