CD44 and neoplasm: In addition, our western blot results showed that NLRP3, Caspase-1, IL-18 and IL-1β were highly expressed in the Tgfbr1/Pten 2cKO mice SCCHN tumor lysates compared with control wild type tongues, and the expression of BMI1, ALDH1 and CD44 were consistent with NLRP3 inflammasome (Fig. 2e and f).