# Leveraging Diffusion Models for Synthetic Data Augmentation in Protein Subcellular Localization Classification

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.22926 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.22926/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Flow matching, time series and science, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models.
- Builds on 4 of its 4 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 28 May 2025.

## Placed in

- Diffusion models / [Flow matching, time series and science](https://mlsanity.com/diffusion/flow-matching-time-series-and-science/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [MixMatch: A Holistic Approach to Semi-Supervised Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.02249/) (2019)
- [Effective Data Augmentation With Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.07944/) (2023)
- [DiffuseMix: Label-Preserving Data Augmentation with Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.14881/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We investigate whether synthetic images generated by diffusion models can enhance multi-label classification of protein subcellular localization. Specifically, we implement a simplified class-conditional denoising diffusion probabilistic model (DDPM) to produce label-consistent samples and explore their integration with real data via two hybrid training strategies: Mix Loss and Mix Representation. While these approaches yield promising validation performance, our proposed MixModel exhibits poor generalization to unseen test data, underscoring the challenges of leveraging synthetic data effectively. In contrast, baseline classifiers built on ResNet backbones with conventional loss functions demonstrate greater stability and test-time performance. Our findings highlight the importance of realistic data generation and robust supervision when incorporating generative augmentation into biomedical image classification.