CD271 knockdown was found to eliminate the capacity of melanoma cells to form heterogeneous tumors most likely through the downregulation of mediators for melanoma invasion and metastasis (GLI-2, SOX2 and ERBB3), angiogenesis (IGFBP-2), proliferation (FST and MITF) or chemoresistance (RHOJ) (34). Here, FST is linked to melanoma.