Identification of mitochondrial energy metabolism-related candidate genes UQCR10 and NDUFA6 in pediatric tetralogy of fallot: an exploratory bioinformatics study

BACKGROUND: Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is one of the most common cyanotic congenital heart diseases in infants and young children. Its molecular basis remains incompletely understood. This study aimed to identify mitochondrial energy metabolism-related candidate genes associated with pediatric TOF using public heart tissue transcriptomic datasets from the GEO database. METHODS: Datasets GSE146218 and GSE217772 were downloaded and merged, followed by batch-effect correction. Differential expression analysis was performed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Functional enrichment analysis, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis were used to prioritize candidate genes. The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) was used as an exploratory literature-based tool to summarize gene-disease associations. RESULTS: A total of 960 DEGs were identified. Functional enrichment analyses showed that these genes were mainly enriched in mitochondrial energy metabolism-related pathways, including oxidative phosphorylation and the mitochondrial respiratory chain. WGCNA and PPI network analyses further prioritized UQCR10 and NDUFA6 as candidate genes, and both genes showed increased expression in TOF heart tissue samples. CTD analysis suggested literature-based associations between these genes and cardiovascular or developmental disease-related terms. CONCLUSION: This exploratory bioinformatics study identified UQCR10 and NDUFA6 as mitochondrial energy metabolism-related candidate genes upregulated in pediatric TOF heart tissue. These findings suggest that mitochondrial respiratory chain-related transcriptional alterations may be involved in TOF-associated myocardial remodeling or stress responses. Further experimental and clinical validation is required to confirm their biological relevance.