While the lack of functional data on NBPF prevents to imply a specific role in SSc pathogenesis, the remarkable increase in the expression of transcripts corresponding to several NBPF genes in myofibroblasts obtained from SSc patients supports the possibility that these highly expanded human lineage genes could be involved in the pathogenesis of a disease such as SSc that displays human-specific expression31,32. Here, NBPF1 is linked to systemic sclerosis.