Soon, preliminary results began to surface.
In the tumor samples with spontaneous regression potential, Tang Shun's team indeed discovered some interesting patterns: their TIM expression tended to be less stable, showing heterogeneity between different regions of the same tumor and even between different cells. Certain TIM subtypes exhibited a subtle reciprocal relationship in expression with a set of genes known as "cell fate checkpoints," including some apoptotic factor primers. Single-cell data revealed that cancer cells with the lowest or atypical TIM expression often also showed higher stress states and a transcript profile more inclined towards differentiation or silence.
