Introduction:Nowadays, mounting evidence shows that variations in TGF-β signaling
pathway-related components influence tumor development. Current research has patents describing
the use of anti-TGF-β antibodies and checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of proliferative
diseases. Importantly, TGF-β signaling pathway is significant for lower-grade glioma (LGG) to
evade host immunity. Loss of particular tumor antigens and shutdown of professional antigenpresenting
cell activity may render the anti-tumor response ineffective in LGG patients. However,
the prognostic significance of TGF-β related genes in LGG is still unknown.Methods:We collected RNA-seq data from the GTEx database (normal cortical tissues), the Cancer
Genome Atlas database (TCGA-LGG), and the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas database
(CGGA-693 and CGGA-325) for conducting our investigation.Results:In addition, previous publications were explored for the 223 regulators of the TGF-β signaling
pathway, and 30 regulators with abnormal expression in TCGA and GTEx database were
identified. In order to identify hub prognostic regulators, least absolute shrinkage and selection
operator (LASSO) regression and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to screen from
differentially expressed genes (DEGs). On the basis of 11 genes from LASSO-Cox regression
analysis (NEDD8, CHRD, TGFBR1, TP53, BMP2, LRRC32, THBS2, ID1, NOG, TNF, and
SERPINE1), TGF-β score was calculated. Multiple statistical approaches verified the predictive
value of the TGF-β score for the training cohort and two external validation cohorts. Considering
the importance of the TGF-β signaling pathway in immune regulation, we evaluated the prediction
of the TGF-β score for immunological characteristics and the possible application of the immunotherapeutic
response using six algorithms (TIMER, CIBERSORT, QUANTISEQ, MCP-counter,
XCELL and EPIC) and three immunotherapy cohorts (GSE78820, Imvigor-210 and
PRJEB23709). Notably, we compared our risk signature with the signature in ten publications in
the meta-cohort (TCGA-LGG, CGGA-693 and CGGA-325), and the TGF-β score had the best
predictive efficiency (C-index =0.812).Conclusion:In conclusion, our findings suggest that TGF-β signaling pathway-related signatures
are prognostic biomarkers in LGG and provide a novel tool for tumor microenvironment (TME)
assessment.