Mitochondria-Related Pathogenic Genes in Paediatric Asthma: A Multi-Omics Mendelian Randomization Study

Abstract

Mitochondrial dysfunction is implicated in asthma pathogenesis, but causal roles of mitochondrial-related genes in paediatric asthma remain unclear. We performed a multi-omics Mendelian randomization study integrating GWAS data from paediatric asthma cohorts with blood-based methylation quantitative trait loci (mQTLs), expression QTLs (eQTLs) and protein QTLs (pQTLs) datasets. Causal inference was assessed using Summary-data-based Mendelian Randomization (SMR) and HEIDI testing, complemented by colocalization analysis. Findings were validated in independent cohorts and evaluated for tissue specificity using GTEx. Functional enrichment and protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analyses were conducted. SMR analysis identified 80 methylation sites spanning 54 genes, 26 gene expressions, and three proteins significantly associated with paediatric asthma. Colocalization analysis confirmed strong evidence for 10 methylation sites (7 genes), the STX17 eQTL (PP.H4 = 0.98) and the UNG pQTL (PP.H4 = 0.84). Tissue-specific eQTL validation replicated the STX17 association. Multi-omics integration associated ALAS1 (cg13241645, cg15698299) and TXNRD1 (cg09884423) with asthma at both methylation and expression levels, with colocalization supporting both ALAS1 associations. Furthermore, integrated mQTL-eQTL analysis suggests that DNA methylation potentially regulates ALAS1 and TXNRD1 expression. Functional enrichment and network analyses revealed that these candidate genes converge on mitochondrial metabolic pathways and identified seven hub genes with potential regulatory significance (SDHB, MFN2, GLDC, PHB2, TXNRD1, ATP5MC1 and PHB). This study provides multi-omics evidence supporting a causal role for mitochondrial-related genes, particularly ALAS1 and TXNRD1, in paediatric asthma, offering new insights into pathogenesis and potential therapeutic targets.