Danger Dust

Despite sharing >98% genomic similarity, humans are more likely to develop cancers than our closest living ancestors, the nonhuman primates. Here, we unexpectedly discover that, unlike chimpanzee and other primates, a critical embryonic development, immune homeostasis, and general cell-death regulator protein called Fas Ligand (FasL) contains a Pro153-Ser153 evolutionary substitution in humans.

These findings of evolutionary significance highlight that elevated plasmin in metastatic tumors potentially contributes to differential outcomes of T-cell-based immunotherapies in solid tumors.