Our in vitro investigation of the underlying mechanisms uncovered that ZEB1 regulates the reversible transitions from a drug‐sensitive differentiated state to a drug‐resistant stem‐like phenotype, associated with a downregulation of MITF and direct or indirect activation of several melanoma‐initiating cell markers, including the neural crest cell marker p75/CD271, a crucial determinant of the colony formation of melanoma cells, and of tumorigenicity (Boiko et al, 2010; Civenni et al, 2011; Redmer et al, 2014). Here, MITF is linked to melanoma.