In order to exclude the possibility that the decrease of AR and PSA might be induced by suppressed cell growth post BMI1 knockdown, we first knocked down c-Myc or aurora kinase A (AURKA), which are well-known oncogenes and regulate cancer cell growth8, to dramatically suppress cell growth, and found that AR or PSA levels were not downregulated (Supplementary Fig. 1a, b). The gene discussed is AR; the disease is cancer.