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Main Authors: Liu, Chang, Li, Vivian, Leong, Linus, Radenkovic, Vladimir, Liò, Pietro, Joshi, Chaitanya K.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.06752
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author Liu, Chang
Li, Vivian
Leong, Linus
Radenkovic, Vladimir
Liò, Pietro
Joshi, Chaitanya K.
author_facet Liu, Chang
Li, Vivian
Leong, Linus
Radenkovic, Vladimir
Liò, Pietro
Joshi, Chaitanya K.
contents Geometric Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) and Transformers have become state-of-the-art for learning from 3D protein structures. However, their reliance on message passing prevents them from capturing the hierarchical interactions that govern protein function, such as global domains and long-range allosteric regulation. In this work, we argue that the network architecture itself should mirror this biological hierarchy. We introduce Geometric Graph U-Nets, a new class of models that learn multi-scale representations by recursively coarsening and refining the protein graph. We prove that this hierarchical design can theoretically more expressive than standard Geometric GNNs. Empirically, on the task of protein fold classification, Geometric U-Nets substantially outperform invariant and equivariant baselines, demonstrating their ability to learn the global structural patterns that define protein folds. Our work provides a principled foundation for designing geometric deep learning architectures that can learn the multi-scale structure of biomolecules.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_06752
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Multi-Scale Protein Structure Modelling with Geometric Graph U-Nets
Liu, Chang
Li, Vivian
Leong, Linus
Radenkovic, Vladimir
Liò, Pietro
Joshi, Chaitanya K.
Machine Learning
Geometric Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) and Transformers have become state-of-the-art for learning from 3D protein structures. However, their reliance on message passing prevents them from capturing the hierarchical interactions that govern protein function, such as global domains and long-range allosteric regulation. In this work, we argue that the network architecture itself should mirror this biological hierarchy. We introduce Geometric Graph U-Nets, a new class of models that learn multi-scale representations by recursively coarsening and refining the protein graph. We prove that this hierarchical design can theoretically more expressive than standard Geometric GNNs. Empirically, on the task of protein fold classification, Geometric U-Nets substantially outperform invariant and equivariant baselines, demonstrating their ability to learn the global structural patterns that define protein folds. Our work provides a principled foundation for designing geometric deep learning architectures that can learn the multi-scale structure of biomolecules.
title Multi-Scale Protein Structure Modelling with Geometric Graph U-Nets
topic Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.06752