A reactive oxygen species-related signature predicts the prognosis and immunosuppressive microenvironment in gliomas.

Objective: Intracellular redox homeostasis is crucial for a series of physiological processes. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play important roles in redox processes. ROS can maintain cell reproduction and survival at moderate levels while promoting the initiation and progression of tumors at high levels.

Methods: Based on a comprehensive analysis of ROS-related gene expression profiles, we established a gene signature associated with ROS to explore its influence on prognosis and immune microenvironment in gliomas.

Results: The ROS-related gene expression profile dichotomized patients into two groups with different clinicopathological features and prognoses. A 19-gene ROS-related signature was used to robustly predict prognosis in both training and validation datasets. Functional analysis indicated an association between ROS levels and the immune microenvironment. The expression of immune checkpoints and M2-type markers was upregulated in the high-risk group, which suggested the immunosuppressive function of ROS.

Conclusion: ROS-related signature is an independent prognostic factor in gliomas and could potentially exert immunosuppressive effects on the tumor microenvironment.