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Updated: Jun 13, 2026
Digital Spatial Profiling for Characterization of the Microenvironment in Adult-Type Diffusely Infiltrating Glioma
Published on: September 13, 2022
Extracellular Matrix-Related Gene Signature Implied Immunosuppressive Status and Adverse Survival in Diffuse Glioma
Zhuoqun Li1, Ping Yang2, Zuojun Ning1
1Department of Molecular Neuropathology, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100070, China.
Background:
Diffuse glioma is the most common and lethal primary malignant brain tumor, with a complicated tumor microenvironment reported. However, the role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in diffuse gliomas remains unclear.
Methods:
To investigate the impact of ECM on glioma malignancy, we constructed an ECM-related signature with six selected prognosis-related genes (VTN, VCAN, TNC, LOXL1, EFEMP1, and AGRN) using the LASSO method.
Results:
This score was found to significantly differentiate between groups classified by clinical characteristics. Despite elevated immune infiltration and antigen release, the high-ECM-score group exhibited attenuated immune activation with profound exhaustion. Moreover, the ECM score demonstrated accurate prognostic predictive power across three independent validation datasets.
Conclusions:
Elevated ECM scores characterize an exhausted immune phenotype and are associated with a poorer prognosis in patients with diffuse glioma. This study enhances our understanding of the role of ECM in the malignant progression of gliomas.
